Why Drew Brees Thinks Arch Manning and All QBs Need 50 “High-Quality” Starts to Succeed in the NFL

Stephen Atcheler3 weeks ago

58 5 minutes read

Why Drew Brees Thinks Arch Manning and All QBs Need 50 “High-Quality” Starts to Succeed in the NFL

Drew Brees’ approach to determining when quarterbacks are ready to excel in the NFL can be considered a little “old school.” His rule of thumb: 50 “high-quality” starts are required. That number may include college and NFL starts, but that’s where Brees places the bar for preparation to thrive as a quarterback.

And for that reason, the Super Bowl XLIV MVP and likely early candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame offered some advice to a current Texas quarterback with a Hall of Fame last name and pedigree:

“The best thing for Arch Manning is to spend five years at the University of Texas,” Brees said.. “I’m going to take a break and let everyone absorb this.”

Brees recently sat down for an interview with The Athletic Brees promoted Dos Equis’ “Go for Dos,” where the company will give away up to a million beers if college football teams attempt more two-point conversions than they did a year ago. He covered a lot of ground during the interview, but Brees spoke passionately about three of the hottest topics in college football: the NIL, transfers and Manning.

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These three things go hand in hand. Manning is arguably the most marketable player in college football. Plus, he immediately made headlines when he opted not to transfer this offseason despite Texas starting quarterback Quinn Ewers returning for another season.

Brees didn’t shy away from any of these topics, starting with NIL.

“I know we’re in a really interesting time in college football right now,” Brees said. “And I’ll be the first to tell you that something needs to be done about this whole NIL thing and the transfer portal. It’s not good for the game. It’s not good for it. It really takes away from the purity of what it should be about, which is building these programs, right? And giving these young men that are coming (to college) at 18 years old the opportunity to grow, to develop.

“I mean, college football should be as much about leadership and character development as it is about learning the X’s and O’s of football and preparing players to hopefully have an opportunity to go play at the next level. So, guys jumping ship and guys getting paid… and there’s manipulation going on left and right – like it’s bad, bad for the game.

“So I’ll be the first to tell you that at the end of the day, the job of a college football coach is to get the best out of his team and put the best product he can on the field. At the end of the day, even if you bring in a highly recruited player like Arch Manning — and there’s a lot of players like that, right, at the end of the day — you still look at that position, especially the quarterback position, and you ask yourself, ‘Who gives us the best chance to win?’ And you develop all of those players to hopefully put yourself in a position to go after a national championship.”

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Brees mentioned Ewers first when asked which college quarterbacks he wanted to see play this season. He said he’s been impressed with how Ewers has improved and helped Texas become a national championship contender again, even with Manning’s shadow looming.

Manning is set to become Texas’ starter for the 2025 season, and he will be eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft. Brees, however, would advise Manning against entering the draft after just one year as a starter.

“He just has to be part of a system, part of a program, learn from one of the best QB developers in Steve Sarkisian and the rest of the staff that they put together,” Brees said. “Now he’s going to play in the SEC, right? He’s going to play against some of the best talent in all of college football. The best thing for him to do is stay there, hang in there, learn, grow, develop, become an incredible leader for this team and try to win national championships. Then he’ll be the best prepared for the NFL.”

The best example of Brees to support this argument? Bo Nix, the Denver Broncos’ rookie quarterback.

Brees cautioned that it might be a bit too early to declare Nix a success story, and also pointed out his obvious ties to Nix’s NFL coach, Sean Payton. But Nix’s 61 college games are more than enough time for Brees to make an immediate impact.

“I think there’s definitely some truth to what sets these guys up for success going from college to the pros,” Brees said. “To me, you need at least 50 high-quality starts before you’re really ready to go to the next level as a quarterback. And so, there’s a lot of guys who have been drafted in the top 10 over the years who, boy, only started 10, 12, 15 games in college. Yeah, there’s all that upside. Or, boy, they can throw the ball a mile. There’s all this talent, there’s this, there’s that and, boy, they get to the NFL and they struggle, right?”

“It’s because they don’t have a lot of experience and they’re not really given the opportunity to grow and develop because you’re in a league now where it’s your job and they’re expected to win. There’s a lot of pressure on coaching staffs to win. And then all of a sudden you’re struggling, you’re benched and you’re in that position where a player loses confidence and all of a sudden he’s sent somewhere. We’ve seen that happen many times to a group of players who were first-round picks.”

Brees called it a “50-50” proposition that any first-round quarterback will be a success in the NFL overall, not just in terms of his first year.

Among first-round quarterbacks in the 2024 draft, only Nix and Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders have already reached Brees’ 50-game mark. That’s a rarity. The only other first-round quarterbacks to come out of college with at least 50 games started since 1980 are Kenny Pickett, Tim Tebow, Byron Leftwich, Carson Palmer, Chuck Long and Jim Everett.

“So what’s the formula? You either start or you sit out a few years in the NFL,” Brees said. “(For example) Patrick Mahomes even sits behind Alex Smith. Jordan Love sits out three years. Aaron Rodgers sat out three years behind (Brett) Favre, right? (Tom) Brady sat out a year. I sat out a year. There’s a lot of guys. We sat out and watched and we learned, and then when it was our time, we were ready, right?”

“That’s what these guys need. They need to be in positions where they’re grounded, they’re coached hard. They need to compete, they need to persevere and they need to just get experience. Stop jumping to other positions when things get tough or thinking this is just a stepping stone to the NFL. Really use this as an opportunity to become a better player, to develop your character, to become a better leader, because all of those things will serve you really well in life, whether you play professional sports or not.”