Getty Image / Stacy Revere
Throughout the pre-draft process, football fans will hear plenty of comparisons between the NFL Draft’s top prospects and players who have already had their chance to make their mark on the league.
Some of those comparisons will be pretty accurate.
Others will seem a bit far-fetched.
Yesterday, we got a comparison that may fall in that 2nd category.
An NFC executive told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that former Fresno State QB Jake Haener has some Drew Brees to him.
Fresno State's Jake Haener is QB6 on @TomPelissero's league survey of 2023 NFL Draft prospects: "He's got a little Drew Brees to him"https://t.co/FDakRdkD9E pic.twitter.com/U3V99Sa7L7
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) April 21, 2023
“He’s got some gamer to him, he’s accurate — he just doesn’t have a big arm. But he’s got a little Drew Brees to him,” an NFC executive said. “The ball’s going to come out. He knows where he’s going with it. He’s just not a big person (5-11 5/8, 207 pounds), so can he hold up?”
Brees was well known for this accuracy during his NFL career. He holds the NFL record for single-season completion percentage, having completed 74.4% of his pass attempts in 2018. He completed 66.7% over the course of his NFL career.
Haener was pretty accurate during his time at Fresno State. Over the course of his 3 seasons as a Bulldog, Haener had a 68.2% completion percentage.
He was particularly impressive as a senior, completing 72% of his pass attempts while throwing for 2896 yards and 20 touchdowns with just 3 interceptions. He led the Bulldogs to a Mountain West Championship Game win this season, an LA Bowl win over Washington State, and a top 25 ranking to finish the year.
Haener isn’t expected to be selected until the 3rd round of this year’s draft, so if this comparison is anywhere near accurate, somebody will be very happy with their 3rd round pick.