In a recent list on ESPN, Drew Brees was ranked the 15th best NFL player of the 21st century. Brees was the fifth-ranked quarterback and the only player from the New Orleans Saints to make the list.

The Super Bowl MVP from the 2009-10 season ranked behind Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers. All of which have at least one Super Bowl and an MVP. Brees has the Super Bowl, along with two Offensive Player of the Year awards, but no MVP trophy.

Where Brees does have the advantage is pass yards per game (280) and completion percentage (67.7%). Brees’ passing yards is second to Patrick Mahomes (296) all time. Current-day quarterbacks are completing passes at higher rates than ever, and Brees remains second all-time in that category as well. Not to mention the only quarterback who is ahead of him is Joe Burrow, who’s played four seasons.

Ranking fifth among quarterbacks of the 21st century is fair when those factors are considered. The debate becomes interesting when you judge him among position players. The players directly above him are Darrelle Revis, Ed Reed, Charles Woodson, Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce. The players below him are Troy Polamalu, Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Michael Strahan and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Should Brees get placed six spots below Rodgers? The difference between the two is four MVP awards and a better winning record from Rodgers. That’s significant, so it boils down to how to value quarterbacks against non-quarterbacks when doing an exercise like this.

It’s almost impossible, and opinions could be made for any of those players to rank above or below Brees. Revis, Reed and Woodson are generational defensive backs. Are the best defensive backs better than the fifth-best quarterback? If you want to base it off value to the team, the quarterback will always win. If you base it on how they compared to the others at their position, then the defensive backs hold that advantage over Brees.

Same goes with the tight ends. Gronkowski has four Super Bowls and Kelce has three. Not only are they the best tight ends of the 21st century, but arguably of all time. Granted they were led by the top-two players on this list in Brady and Mahomes. Brees had great weapons alongside him during his time in New Orleans. Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston were both fantastic players. Neither of them compare to the weapons Brady, Mahomes or Manning in their careers.

Coming in at 15 is fair for Brees, but is also his floor. There’s a valid argument that he should be ranked 10th right behind Rodgers, ahead of Revis, Reed, Woodson, Gronkowski and Kelce.