Buccaneers linebacker Jonathan Casillas said recently that he saw a lot of similarities between Bucs quarterback Josh McCown and Saints quarterback Drew Brees, which came as something of a surprise to those who have seen Brees run one of the league’s prolific offenses while McCown has been bouncing around the league as a backup.
At the time Casillas, who played with Brees in New Orleans, said that he saw the similarity in “not just the way [McCown] throws the ball, but his approach to the game.” He reiterated that comparison on Sirius XM NFL Radio on Sunday while making it clear that the two players have not achieved the same heights on the football field.
“I can’t compare careers, of McCown and Drew Brees, that is not something I was doing, but as far as being a professional, anyone who knows Drew Brees, or came in contact with him, I think he sets the standard,” Casillas said. “To see somebody with similar characteristics to that, like a McCown, is astounding,” he said. “That is all I was saying. A lot of the tools, the intangibles that go into making a quarterback is more important than the tangibles.”
Casillas said that he also thinks Mike Glennon has the intangibles to be a great leader, but emphasized that the Buccaneers don’t have a quarterback on Brees’ level right now. That puts them in the same boat as most of the other teams in the NFL, but they really just need McCown or Glennon to provide better play than they received last season in order to take a step forward on offense. Casillas thinks the quarterbacks have the tools to give them that and we’re getting closer and closer to finding out if he’s right.