32-year old Drew Brees led the Saints to a 13-3 record in 2011 and a return trip to the playoffs.  He also threw for 5,476 yards last year, smashing Dan Marino’s all-time record of 5,084 yards passing in a season, which stood for 27 years!  Brees played in 16 games (all starts) for the Saints this year and he completed 468 of 657 passes (71.2%) for 5,476 yards with 46 TD passes and 14 INTs (110.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 21 times for 86 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run this year.  Brees has now played in 154 games (153 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 3,613 of 5,479 passes (65.9%) for 40,742 yards with 281 TD passes and 146 INTs (94.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 283 times for 565 yards (2.0 ypc) with 8 TD runs so far in his career.  Brees is now 92-61 (60.1%) as a starting QB during the regular season in his NFL career.

25-year old Chase Daniel continues to hold the clipboard and the ball on field goal and extra points.  Daniel played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Saints this year and he has completed 4 of 5 passes (80%) for 29 yards without a TD pass or INT (90.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 3 times for -3 yards (-1.0 ypc) so far this year.  Daniel has now played in 29 games (0 starts) so far in is NFL career and he has completed 6 of 8 passes (75%) for 45 yards without a TD pass or INT (88.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 5 times for 13 yards (2.6 ypc) so far in his NFL career.

UPDATE:  (2/5/2012) – Drew Brees has been named the 2011 NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

22-year old rookie RB Mark Ingram will miss the rest of the season as he is going to undergo toe surgery this Wednesday.  Ingram played in 10 games (4 starts) this year for the Saints and he carried the ball 122 times for 474 yards (3.9 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also caught 11 passes for 46 yards (4.2 avg) this year.  With Chris Ivory back healthy, the Saints should be o.k. without Ingram in the playoffs.

The New Orleans Saints are sending five offensive players to the Pro Bowl.  It all starts with record setting 32-year old QB Drew Brees.  Brees has played in 15 games for the Saints so far this year and he has completed 440 of 622 passes (70.7%) for 5,087 yards with 41 TD passes and 13 INTs (108.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 20 times for 81 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  25-year old TE Jimmy Graham will likely get to play some catch with Drew Brees in Hawaii in the Pro Bowl.  Graham has played in 15 games for the Saints so far this year and he has caught 91 passes for 1,213 yards (13.3 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  28-year old Jahri Evans and 26-year old Carl Nicks will be the starting guards in the Pro Bowl for the NFC.  27-year old OT Jermon Bushrod has also made it to the Pro Bowl as a reserve.  Evans, Nicks and Bushrod have all started all 15 games for the Saints so far this year.

The Saints have placed 28-year old TE David Thomas on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a nasty concussion.  Thomas played in 5 games for the Saints this year and he caught 5 passes for 16 yards (3.2 ypc).  He has now played in 33 games in his first three years with the Saints and he has caught 70 passes for 591 yards (8.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  This is not a big loss to the Saints due to the fast rise of Jimmy Graham.

The Saints have signed 29-year old OT Ray Willis.  Willis last played in a regular season NFL game back in 2009 with the Dolphins.  He played in 16 games (all starts) for the Dolphins in 2009.  He has now played in 44 games (26 starts) in his first five years in the NFL.  This was a good move for the Saints, who need some depth on the O-Line.

The Saints have placed 24-year old OT Charles Brown on the Injured Reserve List due to a hip flexor injury.  Brown played in 8 games (5 starts) for the Saints this year.  He has now played in 11 games (5 starts) in his first two years with the Saints.  This was a bad break for both Brown and the Saints, as he has doing a solid job.

34-year old center Olin Kreutz has walked away from the New Orleans Saints.  He has been placed on the Left Team List and he will be eventually released.  He said that he lost his passion for the game.  Kreutz played in 4 games (all starts) for the Saints this year.  He has played in 195 games (187 starts) in his first fifteen years in the NFL.  26-year old Brian De La Puente will now be the starting center for the Saints.  He has played in 6 games (2 starts) so far this year for the Saints.  This should help the Saints running game as Kreutz was a little light in the shoes weight wise.

The Saints have signed 28-year old G/T Pat McQuistan.  He is a big guy at 6’6″, 319 pounds.  McQuistan played in 16 games (8 starts) for the Dolphins last year.  He has now played in 56 games (8 starts) in his first five years in the NFL.  McQuistan will provide depth at both guard and tackle for the Saints going forward.

The Saints have placed 25-year old kicker Garrett Hartley on Injured Reserve due to his hip injury, as he is now officially done for the year.  41-year old kicker John Kasay has made this decision a rather easy one based on his performance so far this year.  Kasay has played in all 3 of the Saints’ games so far this year and he has connected on all six of his field goal attempts and all 10 of his extra points.  Kasay has already scored 28 points for the Saints so far this year and that’s pretty impressive.  The Saints didn’t want to keep two kickers on the roster for the next few weeks and that’s why they placed Hartley on I.R. and it was the right move.

Little Darren Sproles has already made Saints’ fans forget about Reggie Bush after just one game.  He only carried the ball 2 times for 7 yards (3.5 ypc) but he also caught 7 passes for 75 yards (10.7 avg) out of the backfield.  Sproles was really a beast in the return game against the Packers.  He returned 2 kickoffs for 76 yards (38.0 avg) and 2 kickoffs for 92 yards (46.0 avg) including a 72-yard TD return.  Sproles touched the ball 13 times for the Saints in the season opener and he had 250 total yards (19.2 yards per touch).  The Saints have to be ecstatic with Darren Sproles so far.