How to Play Big as a Small Quarterback Like Drew Brees

Drew Brees was not always the biggest, fastest or strongest quarterback on the field, but when the game was over, he was usually the winning quarterback. Some players have that indefinable quality that a scale or stop watch can't measure. One of these qualities for Drew is how he plays big, but is one of the smaller quarterbacks in professional football.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Play the angles in the game of football. Drew Brees is one of the best quarterbacks at using different arm and passing angles to complete a pass. He uses these angles to compensate for his lack of height. If the defender is bearing down on him, he drops the arm angle and throws a pass around, rather than over the defender as bigger quarterbacks may do.
2. Use the football as a decoy to confound the defense. If a quarterback can fake handoffs properly or use the pump fake, they can keep the defense off balance. This creates indecision for the defense and that is when Drew Brees attacks. Brees uses his handoff and pass fakes to create confusion for the defense to give him an advantage that bigger quarterbacks enjoy based on their size alone.
3. Read the defense before the snap of the football. If a quarterback can understand what the other team is likely to do on a specific play it gives him a significant advantage. Drew Brees is one the best Quarterbacks in football when it come to pre-snap reads. He plays off these reads to score touchdowns and move his team down the field.
4. Move in the pocket and extend a play. One of the best ways for a small quarterback like Drew Brees to play bigger than his size is to use his small stature to hide from and move around defenders. The longer a quarterback can move around in the pocket, the more time his receivers will have to get open. This play extension often results in a big play for the offense.