Tom Brady: Best draft pick of all-time?

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

PFT has recently begun an NCAA-style "bracket" of the best draft pick of all-time. A lot of countdowns and analysts consider Tom Brady to be the best draft pick of all-time, but that definition seems simplistic. It really depends on what you consider "the best draft pick" to mean. Few could argue that Brady is not the best value of all-time. Going 199th overall and being one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game is definitely going to trump everyone. Still, could you really say that the Patriots made the greatest pick of all-time. You have to consider that part of the draft is evaluation.

The Patriots chose the following players over Brady:

Adrian Klemm
J.R. Redmon
Greg Robinson-Randall
Dave Stachelski
Jeff Marriott
Antwan Harris

Can you really give a ton of credit to the Patriots' front office for selecting these players before Brady? True, the Patriots already had Drew Bledsoe and did not see a pressing need at quarterback, and **** Rehbein believed Brady was the second coming of Joe Montana. But then again, if you believed you had Joe Montana II on the board, would you roll the dice and allow 198 picks to pass before pulling the trigger?

Brady is no doubt one of the greatest players of all-time and, dare I say it, the luckiest draft pick of all-time. As much as the team is credited with this brilliant move while the 49ers are laughed at for drafting Carmen Giovanni (the 6th QB taken in the draft), the obvious truth is the Patriots were just a very lucky team who also tremendously undervalued Brady. As proof as to the relative value they assigned Brady, insiders revealed they couldn't decide between him or Tim Rattay.

When I think of the best draft picks of all-time, I have to consider Jerry Rice because of the context. Rice was drafted #16 overall by the 49ers, but they traded away their second round pick to get him. Few teams were interested in Rice: mainly the 49ers (with the last position) and the Cowboys (at number 17, may or may not have drafted him.) The reason this pick was so impressive was that Rice ran a 4.71 in the 40-yard dash.

I'm sure there are lots of other examples like Rice that show a team's willingness to sacrifice other picks to grab a player whose talent is apparent to their scouting department, even if the rest of the league cannot see it.

 

[patriotscpfc]

I think the point in the poll is the most valuable draft pick.

i.e Brady at #199 vs Montana at #82 or whatever it was.

 

[chevss454]

I think the point in the poll is the most valuable draft pick.

i.e Brady at #199 vs Montana at #82 or whatever it was.

Indeed. NFL network and NFL films already had a piece on this and Brady was by far the most valuable pick ever.

 

[Gunnails]

Johny U was a late pick, maybe a round 7? Staubach, Bart Starr.

Certainly Brady was a great pick, best ever, that's debatable.

 

[patriotscpfc]

Bart Starr - Pick #200
Staubach - Pick #129
Unitas - Pick #102

I guess Starr is arguable depending on who you believe is the best ever. But I think the pick of Brady beats the other 2.

 

[HarkDawg]

Johny U was a late pick, maybe a round 7? Staubach, Bart Starr.

Certainly Brady was a great pick, best ever, that's debatable.

leave it to a JET to come in with a Sonic Boom.



Value buddy...... TFB as a 6th rounder

that will be hard to top for a value pick---> cant forget the dynasty and 3 rings.

 

[eagle eye]

Haven't we had this thread many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many times before?

 

[Gunnails]

leave it to a JET to come in with a Sonic Boom.



Value buddy...... TFB as a 6th rounder

that will be hard to top for a value pick---> cant forget the dynasty and 3 rings.

========================================================

Possibly.

I just don't see it as a slam dunk. It's completely subjective, if you go to a Niners board it will be Montana, GB they will go with Star, Colt fans like Johny U, Pats board likes Brady.

I guess I am bringing up names from a different era, Unitas, Star, Staubach.
Thats not fair.

Brady has it going on, no doubts about it.

 

[Joker]

C'mon...everybody KNOWS Blair Thomas was the greatest draft pick of all time

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

The Patriots chose the following players over Brady:

Adrian Klemm
J.R. Redmon
Greg Robinson-Randall
Dave Stachelski
Jeff Marriott
Antwan Harris

Remember that these draft flops cannot be blamed on BB. Bobby Freaking Greer made up the draft board; Bill's guy were not in place yet.

 

[jmt57]

Brady is no doubt one of the greatest players of all-time and, dare I say it, the luckiest draft pick of all-time. As much as the team is credited with this brilliant move while the 49ers are laughed at for drafting Carmen Giovanni (the 6th QB taken in the draft), the obvious truth is the Patriots were just a very lucky team who also tremendously undervalued Brady. As proof as to the relative value they assigned Brady, insiders revealed they couldn't decide between him or Tim Rattay.

I would say yes and no on the Pats being lucky. It's not uncommon for opposing fans to say the Patriots run this past decade was all luck, pointing to the selection of Brady (and the tuck rule.) I agree to a point that the Pats were lucky with the pick of Brady, but the fact is that they did see something after making the effort to scout him and taking the time to interview him and work him out. It's not like they were flipping through the pages of a draft magazine with no idea who to select when that pick rolled around. As I recall they were very close to choosing him with their previous pick. It's also worth pointing out that the Pats chose to keep Brady as the 4th quarterback on the roster in his rookie season, which tells me they saw something very early with him - in other words, perhaps it was more than just simply being lucky.

I'd say there was a certain amount of both luck and skill on behalf of the Pats' decision to draft Brady, just like there was a certain amount of both luck and skill by the Steelers' to sign James Harrison and Willie Parker as undrafted free agents, for example. On one hand these players have all outperformed their draft status, but on the other hand the teams in these examples saw something others did not, and therefore did a little bit better job of scouting than all the other NFL teams did in evaluating those players.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Remember that these draft flops cannot be blamed on BB. Bobby Freaking Greer made up the draft board; Bill's guy were not in place yet.

so then greer gets the credit for brady?

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

C'mon...everybody KNOWS Blair Thomas was the greatest draft pick of all time

LOL. Another glorious Jets pick. I should also note the the Sporting News draft guide thought was the total package.

Gholston was also a great pick. I think it was Borges who was upset that the Patriots did not move up to get Gholston; slammed the Patriots for missing out on the one of the few impact players in the draft.

Johnny Mitchell was also another good one.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Bart Starr - Pick #200
Staubach - Pick #129
Unitas - Pick #102

I guess Starr is arguable depending on who you believe is the best ever. But I think the pick of Brady beats the other 2.

Thanks for providing some data! Interesting.

If we start with the 1955 Draft, Johnny U was picked in the ninth round at 102nd, but in a Draft that chose 360 players over 30 rounds of 12 each. So, he was picked about a third of the way through the Draft with 258 players selected after him.

In 1956, Bart Starr was picked in the 17th Round at 200th. But, this was another 360 player Draft, so he was picked a little over half way through the draft with another 160 players to follow.

Roger was picked in both the AFL and NFL Drafts in 1964, at roughly the same place in each; he was picked in the eighth round at 122nd (just over halfway through) in an AFL Draft of 208 players (86 to follow) and was picked at 129th (just under half way through) in the 19th round of the NFL Draft of 280 players (151 to follow). However, Staubach had a commitment to serve in the US Navy as a Graduate of Annapolis, so it's reasonable to suggest that he would have been picked much earlier without a five year hiatus, including service in Vietnam, looming. [edit]

Brady was picked, as we all know, in the Sixth Round at 199th. He was picked more than three quarters through a Draft of 254 Players with only 55 players picked after him.

So, if you look at it from the point of view of "how far down" in the Draft these guys were picked, 258 Players were picked after Unitas, 160 players were picked after Starr and 151 were picked after Staubach (NFL Draft). Only 55 were picked after Brady, who was chosen more than three quarters through the Draft.

What does that mean?

Probably not much, since most of the players in 360 guy drafts never got close to putting on an NFL uniform, but it's an interesting perspective.

Staubach was picked roughly half way through the Draft, vs. three quarters of the way through for Tommy, but he had to fulfill his commitment to serve in the Navy as a graduate of Annapolis. [edit]

Of the four, Bart Starr made six appearances in and had five victories in an NFL or AFL/NFL Championship Game, two of which were called the Super Bowl.

Staubach went to four League Championships, winning two.

Unitas went to five NFL or AFL/NFL Championships, on the winning side in three and on the losing side in two, including two of the most important games in the history of the League, the Colts' 1958 victory over the Giants and their 1968 loss to the Jets (which he didn't start, but in which he came off the bench in the Fourth Quarter), two games that defined the beginning of the modern era of the NFL.

Brady, as we all know, has been to four League Championship Games and won three.

So, they were all pretty valuable picks.

 

[jmt57]

Staubach probably offers the most relevant comparison and he was picked roughly half way through the Draft, vs. three quarters of the way through for Tommy.

Actually Staubach isn't really a valid comparison. The reason he went so low was that he had a commitment to serve in the Navy for five years following his college career. Teams knew he would not be available to play until then (assuming he wasn't injured in Viet Nam) making him a very longterm prospect.

 

[Gunnails]

C'mon...everybody KNOWS Blair Thomas was the greatest draft pick of all time

LOL. Another glorious Jets pick. I should also note the the Sporting News draft guide thought was the total package.

Gholston was also a great pick. I think it was Borges who was upset that the Patriots did not move up to get Gholston; slammed the Patriots for missing out on the one of the few impact players in the draft.

Johnny Mitchell was also another good one.

=================================================

Lets keep on topic. I did not bring up the Jets.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Actually Staubach isn't really a valid comparison. The reason he went so low was that he had a commitment to serve in the Navy for five years following his college career. Teams knew he would not be available to play until then (assuming he wasn't injured in Viet Nam) making him a very longterm prospect.

Good point! I'd forgotten that! I'll see if I can still edit the original to correct it.

 

[letekro]

Considering Manning and Leaf were 1a and 1b before the draft, picking Manning has to be one of the great picks ever.

Minnesota having the stones to pick Randy at 21 was a nice pick as well.

 

[jmt57]

Minnesota having the stones to pick Randy at 21 was a nice pick as well.

That's a bit of revisionist history, isn't it? As I recall Moss was projected to be a top ten pick despite playing at Marshall and questions about him (tested positive for smoking pot while on probation for getting in a racially-fueled fight in high school.) If I'm not mistaken most people at that time were very surprised that he slipped all the way to #21 in that draft.

 

[Nikolai]

Adam Seward - #149