Danny Kanell believes Kirk Cousins could become the next Drew Brees.
“I think Kirk Cousins could be the next Drew Brees,” Kanell said Wednesday on ESPN Radio’s “Russillo and Kanell” show. “Tell me why he can’t.”
Brees turned the ball over as much as Cousins during the early part of his career.
Kanell attempted to explain why he thinks Cousins could follow a similar trajectory.
“I’d go in every morning on Kool 105 in Denver with J.J. and the Coach and we would talk about games,” Kanell said of his days as the Broncos’ backup quarterback with a radio gig in 2003. “We had just played the San Diego Chargers and Drew Brees was the starter and he looked awful. And we’re in there laughing about how bad he was, like, ‘Man, can you believe that guy’s a starter? How does this guy get it done? He’s got no future.’ And I was crushing him. I feel really stupid about it now, but, there’s a growth process and I think you’ve seen enough from Kirk Cousins, the ability to win games and those sort of intangibles that coaches talk about. I think he’s got ’em. Every coach that I’ve talked to, and [Michigan State Coach] Mark Dantonio was one of them, who has spent time with him, has talked about his ability to lead others and raise up the play of the guys around him. And when I look at his skill set, I see a very similar skill set to Drew Brees. Drew Brees was not the most athletic guy, he wasn’t the biggest, prototypical quarterback that you would look at, it just took a guy like [Saints Coach] Sean Payton to believe in him and say, ‘All right, you’re going to be our guy. You’re going to be our franchise.’ ”
