Who is better, Brees or Smith?
Steve Smith Sr leads with a GOAT score of 88.7 against 88.6 for Drew Brees — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
AthletesTeams
Brees vs Smith
Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.
Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Steve Smith Sr above Drew Brees: 88.7 vs 88.6. Steve Smith Sr leads on Peak. Drew Brees leads on Longevity, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
SmithWinner
88.7Smith wins: Peak
Brees
88.6Brees wins: Longevity, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/drew-brees-vs-steve-smith-sr
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Steve Smith Sr
88.7
Smith leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Steve Smith Sr
2. Drew Brees
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Steve Smith Sr5 seasons played · career day 1,8252,723 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Drew Brees5 seasons played · career day 2,190105 touchdowns
-96.1% vs Smith at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Brees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 79 | 201 |
| 🇺🇸 Smith | 0 | 0 | 154 | 208 | 2,723 | 7,294 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | BreesRetired | SmithRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Super Bowl titles | 1 | — |
| Super Bowl MVP | 1 | — |
| Passing yards | 80,358 | — |
| Touchdown passes | 571 | — |
| Pro Bowls | 13 | 5 |
| 5,000-yard seasons | 5 | — |
| Career receiving yards | — | 14,731 |
| Receiving triple crowns | — | 1 |
| Career receptions | — | 1,031 |
| Receiving touchdowns | — | 81 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 84 |
| Peak w20% | 90 | 94 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 90 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 84 |
| Statistics w15% | 96 | 94 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Smith88.7
Brees88.6
FAQ
Where does Brees beat Smith?
Brees scores higher on statistics, longevity. Smith leads on peak.
How is the Brees vs Smith score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Brees: 88.6, Smith: 88.7.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Brees vs Smith. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.