BTW I don't forget the rushing... As I talked about in the thread where you brought up Allar's scrambling as his "best" attribute (never true of elite QBs), Drew was not a running QB, but he was athletic enough that he could [and did] run effectively when it was available.
I haven't nominated Brees as the 2nd QB on an all-decade team.
But I think you're discounting him greatly based on stats. Drew Brees was one of those "put the team on his back" guys. He just was. You might be down 2 scores in the 4th, but with Drew, you knew there was a chance. You wouldn't win them all with him, but you knew that you would pretty much lose them all without him.
Yeah, there was a scheme. That helped, especially since the B1G was not built to defend it. Yeah, there was probably the best OL Purdue's had in the last 4 decades. That's why I *did* nominate Matt Light. Yeah, they had a scrappy defense (which actually got even better 2001-2004).
But Brees was the heart. He gave fans hope every week. And that last year (2000), although the team was only 8-3 (6-2) in the regular season and in a three way tie for the conference title, he beat both Michigan and OSU on the way to that record. With Brees, the team played with no fear.
He was a gunslinger, and that's probably where a lot of the INTs come from. But he was a gunslinger, and taking his shots was also what made him great.
