But the purpose of this thread was to compare their numbers concerning their 1st four years starting at the QB position. You can't accurately compare current stats as Brees has been in the league alot longer. No one knows what Ryan's numbers will be when given that same amount of time.
Drew Brees' Stats 1st 5 years in the league
(Rookie season not included as he only played in 1 game)
Year Team G Att Comp Pct Yds Yds/G TD Int Rtg
2002 Chargers 16 526 320 60.8 3,284 205.2 17 16 76.9
2003 Chargers 11 356 205 57.6 2,108 191.6 11 15 67.5
2004 Chargers 15 400 262 65.5 3,159 210.6 27 7 104.8
2005 Chargers 16 500 323 64.6 3,576 223.5 24 15 89.2
Matt Ryan's Stats 1st 4 years in the league
Year Team G Att Comp Pct Yds Yds/G TD Int Rtg
2008 Falcons 16 434 265 61.6 3,440 215 16 11 87.7
2009 Falcons 14 451 263 58.3 2,916 208.2 22 14 80.9
2010 Falcons 16 571 357 62.5 3,705 231.5 28 9 91.0
2011 Falcons 16 566 347 61.3 4,177 261 29 12 92.2
So looking at these stats, there's no reason to think Ryan won't reach that elite status. Can he? Time will tell, but to just assume he won't is quite absurd!!
Brees didn't become "elite" until he joined the Saints which, in my opinion, has more to do with his coaching moreso than him just being "better" than Ryan.
With Koetter and a new offensive philosphy, this may ( I did say MAY) be the coaching change that takes Ryan to the next level. Time will tell.













