Drew Brees made his Fox debut during Sunday’s Packers-Giants game and the network was not going to let viewers forget it. Pregame hype included an interview segment featuring Brees and lead NFL analyst Tom Brady. Fox wanted viewers to savor the stardom on the screen — to freeze-frame the moment of the NFL’s number one and number two all-time passing leaders working at the same network calling games at the same time.
With so much ballyhoo from Fox, not to mention Brees’ many self-promoting TV, radio and podcast appearances, some observers might’ve expected Brees’ analysis to overflow with charisma. Instead, we heard a former player who has obvious knowledge of the game but is still finding his way as a game analyst. Brees showed splashes of potential, but it will take some time before Brees can accurately claim to be on the level of Troy Aikman, Cris Collinsworth or Greg Olsen.
Brees’ voice does not grab a listener’s attention. He doesn’t project strongly, so his delivery comes off a bit flat, at times. It is hard to not compare Brees’ delivery to that of Greg Olsen. Olsen, still Fox’s best analyst by a mile, calls games with energy and urgency. There’s a command to his voice, an enthusiastic readiness to teach, to illuminate and to share.
Brees, as was the case during his infamous Raiders-Bengals NBC broadcast in 2022, also had some moments of awkward silence. On the Giants’ opening drive, RB Tyrone Tracy took a handoff up the middle for eight yards to pick up a first down at the Green Bay 28 yard line. As Tracy hopped to his feet to celebrate, Brees commented “this could not be starting off any better for the Giants.” Immediately afterwards, the production crew transitioned into a replay of the run, but it took Brees nearly 10 seconds to offer any analysis. To be fair, live TV is hard and there are many moving parts — especially for an analyst working with a new crew — but replays are where an analyst should sparkle and Brees’ extended silence was noticeable.
Brees has his moments when his deep football knowledge shines through. To no one’s surprise, he likes sharing his knowledge of man-to-man vs. zone coverage. It is obvious that he sees the game through the eyes of a quarterback.
As the game went along, Brees improved. Early in the 3rd quarter, Packers WR Josh Whyle caught a 3-yard TD pass from QB Jordan Love. Brees noted during the replay that the play succeeded because Packers WR Christian Watson executed a legal pick to knock Giants S Jevon Holland off his assignment.
“It’s legal to pick somebody at the line of scrimmage,” Brees explained.
Brees was at his best near the end of the game. With 36 seconds left and New York down 27-20, Giants backup QB Jameis Winston threw a lethal interception to Packers S Evan Williams. During the replay, Brees put the blame of the INT on Giants WR Jalin Hyatt for failing to continue the route.
“It looks like he’s (Hyatt) about to run a corner route and then he just stops on the route,” Brees said. “Jameis throws it right where he wants to. As a quarterback, you’re expecting for that receiver to cross the safety’s face and he doesn’t. So I don’t think that’s on Jameis there.”
After the game’s most important play, Brees helped viewers understand how Hyatt’s critical error led to the fatal turnover. It’s the kind of late-game analysis viewers should expect from a top-tier analyst.
As an analyst on the “C” crew, Brees will call some good games with a strong play-by-play partner without feeling the pressure of analyzing the top game each week. He will need some time to work on timing, conversational skills and storytelling. But Fox has him in a good spot. One can only hope that with more than a month remaining in the regular season, Brees shows even more improvement.
