What was the Reaction to Brady's draft?

Obviously on here we have people who know more than BB and Mr Kraft, so Garapollo os obviously terrible, and the franchise have made a mistake....

OK, in all seriousness, the team have gone for a guy they think has huge potential, but is maybe under the radar in a weaker league. They feel a few years will see him really step up, and have more talent than QB's in higher profile leagues (doesn't mean they are right, just that is the logic)

It just got me thinking (and I know it isn't exactly the same)...were they people who were saying that TB12 was a waste of a draft pick, and that there were numerous other QB's who should have been taken? Did they think that we had Bledsoe so there was no real point in getting another QB?

Cheers folks!

I remember thinking he was going to be a future HOF'er and would win multiple Superbowls.

I think most considered Brady to be a good value pick at the time he was drafted. He was pegged as a potential 4th or 5th round pick. Nobody expected him to become the player he ultimately became and nobody ever thought he would be anything but Bledsoe's back-up.

Most were pissed that year for not having a first round pick, which they "traded" to the Jets for the right to hire Bill Belichick. Turned out to be the best trade the franchise ever made.

I know if you have an old dog vets recommend getting a puppy because it extends the older dog’s life and revitalize him/her. I am thinking this might have a similar impact.

6th round picks are fliers. 2nd round picks should be a starter. Big difference.

I remember thinking why the hell did we give up a first for a coach who had 1 playoff victory (over us) and was another defensive coach like the one we just fired. Then I said great, a QB, that's useless with Bledsoe and Friez was the backup. Frankly I had more faith in the 7th Rd QB we took in the draft the year before-Micheal Bishop. I saw him as maybe a poor mans Mike Vick and thought if Bledsoe went down or continued to suck he might supplant Friez as #2 and inject excitement.

When Brady waltzed on the field after the Mo Lewis hit I was like, he's still on the team?

It is pretty obvious they have earmarked this guy as the heir apparent and didn't think he would be around come the third round (or our pick anyway).

I would rather them pick their man up now, rather than wait until Brady is about to go, when there maybe no-one that the franchise thinks is capable of taking us forward.

We have been lucky over 20 years with DB and TB all being stars. I have no wish to spend the next ten years after TB waiting for a decent QB to come through, and changing every two years.

If they like our new draft pick, take him I say and let him develop over the next two to three years.

Though granted, the TE position is a worry...I just get the impression that BB doesn't fancy any of the class and won't be signing for the hell of it

OhExaulted1 said:

I remember thinking why the hell did we give up a first for a coach who had 1 playoff victory (over us) and was another defensive coach like the one we just fired. Then I said great, a QB, that's useless with Bledsoe and Friez was the backup. Frankly I had more faith in the 7th Rd QB we took in the draft the year before-Micheal Bishop. I saw him as maybe a poor mans Mike Vick and thought if Bledsoe went down or continued to suck he might supplant Friez as #2 and inject excitement.

When Brady waltzed on the field after the Mo Lewis hit I was like, he's still on the team?

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Love the honesty....at least it turned out OK! LOL

The draft was quite a bit different then, minimal fanfare.. remember after the first round there would be a scroll on the bottom of the page, listing picks with no explanation.. the following day the local newspaper would have snippets about every draft pick. This message board did not exist, and aside from our resident contrarian press not much was said afterwards...

Things have changed dramatically since then...

I remember being thrilled that Brady had finally gotten drafted. He was my favourite college player and the reason I started following the Patriots.

But then reality settled in and I was really surprised that the Patriots drafted him, and quite skeptical he'd even make the team. The team already had Drew, a veteran back-up, and a developmental guy in Bishop. Thought he'd have to beat out Bishop, which I wasn't sure he could do. Hilarious in hindsight.

But carrying 4 QBs was a lot. Then again, it's the game's most important position, so if there's somewhere you want to make sure you're covered, it's at QB.

I flipped on the draft halfway through their analysis of the Brady pick. I remember thinking the kid sounded pretty good and wished we had drafted him, as i assumed he had been drafted by somebody else since we had Bledsoe.

Brit patriot said:

Obviously on here we have people who know more than BB and Mr Kraft, so Garapollo os obviously terrible, and the franchise have made a mistake....

OK, in all seriousness, the team have gone for a guy they think has huge potential, but is maybe under the radar in a weaker league. They feel a few years will see him really step up, and have more talent than QB's in higher profile leagues (doesn't mean they are right, just that is the logic)

It just got me thinking (and I know it isn't exactly the same)...were they people who were saying that TB12 was a waste of a draft pick, and that there were numerous other QB's who should have been taken? Did they think that we had Bledsoe so there was no real point in getting another QB?

Cheers folks!

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Strange, but I just posted my thoughts on Bledsoe vs Brady in another thread.

Since I don't watch the NCAA and didn't then either, the first I ever heard of Brady was when they drafted him. It's impossible to form an opinion on a QB until you see him play. The same situation exists now with Garappolo.

It wasn't until I saw Brady play in 2001 that I knew he was the man and not Bledsoe. Then when Brady led them to a SB title I was convinced. Some of the Bledsholes never were, but have probably come to their senses by now.

kennyb said:

6th round picks are fliers. 2nd round picks should be a starter. Big difference.

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The Pats were not only a few players away from getting to the SB championship game and winning it when they took Brady in the 6th.

Today, they are in the SB conversation and picking another QB in round 2 does not help you at all right now. Just like Mallet standing on the sidelines breathing through his mouth these last 3 years.

The HomeBoys on the board luv every Belichick pick and will find ways to justify them every time.

convertedpatsfan said:

I remember being thrilled that Brady had finally gotten drafted. He was my favourite college player and the reason I started following the Patriots.

But then reality settled in and I was really surprised that the Patriots drafted him, and quite skeptical he'd even make the team. The team already had Drew, a veteran back-up, and a developmental guy in Bishop. Thought he'd have to beat out Bishop, which I wasn't sure he could do. Hilarious in hindsight.

But carrying 4 QBs was a lot. Then again, it's the game's most important position, so if there's somewhere you want to make sure you're covered, it's at QB.

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After getting to see him here for all these years, I can understand why you followed him here. He's an impressive young man. He's a great QB too.

Were already comparing the drafting of Brady to the drafting of Jimmy G.

1960Pats said:

Strange, but I just posted my thoughts on Bledsoe vs Brady in another thread.

Since I don't watch the NCAA and didn't then either, the first I ever heard of Brady was when they drafted him. It's impossible to form an opinion on a QB until you see him play. The same situation exists now with Garappolo.

It wasn't until I saw Brady play in 2001 that I knew he was the man and not Bledsoe. Then when Brady led them to a SB title I was convinced. Some of the Bledsholes never were, but have probably come to their senses by now.

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This is the point for me...I have never seen Garapollo play, so I don't want to annoint him as the next big thing. But I think there are people slamming him who have never seen him play either...insane.

In Britain we have our football, and when a guy is linked to your club, we have what you call 'Youtube scouts' who watch a two minute highlight reel of a guy and say whether he is **** or not...their opinion, in their own minds beats millions of pounds worth of a scouting network..

What can't be argued is that we need to groom the successor...and to be fair, we have seven picks tonight. I think the team have a plan

I actually remember quite clearly. We had a pretty good backup (Huard) who had looked good against us, Michael Bishop, the strong armed, quick footed project and leadfooted Bledsoe with the great arm,who was starting to frustrate the fandom.

At the time, pocket QBs were on the way out and only mobile QBS would make it from now on (sound familiar?). So I couldn't understand, for the life of me, why he seemed to be progressing.

Triumph said:

Were already comparing the drafting of Brady to the drafting of Jimmy G.

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Yes, that's how you try to evaluate unknown talents. You compare and contrast.

How else would you evaluate a new quarterback on the same team as the current quarterback?

OhExaulted1 said:

I remember thinking why the hell did we give up a first for a coach who had 1 playoff victory (over us) and was another defensive coach like the one we just fired. Then I said great, a QB, that's useless with Bledsoe and Friez was the backup. Frankly I had more faith in the 7th Rd QB we took in the draft the year before-Micheal Bishop. I saw him as maybe a poor mans Mike Vick and thought if Bledsoe went down or continued to suck he might supplant Friez as #2 and inject excitement.

When Brady waltzed on the field after the Mo Lewis hit I was like, he's still on the team?

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I too had a flirtation for Bishop as a Vick style QB (before we knew about the puppies). He'd run around pre-season & toss game winning bombs to Sean Morey.

As a non-draftnik who does not follow college ball I did not think anything about TFB when drafted although thanks to my perceptive wife I'd soured on The Statue as a playoff tease by then. I DID go to Smithfield several times that 2001 summer and saw that Brady kid outplay Bledsoe all summer long. Was NOT surprised to see Bishop cut and Brady pass Frieze??? (Huard) to be #2.

RayClay said:

I actually remember quite clearly. We had a pretty good backup (Huard) who had looked good against us, Michael Bishop, the strong armed, quick footed project and leadfooted Bledsoe with the great arm,who was starting to frustrate the fandom.

At the time, pocket QBs were on the way out and only mobile QBS would make it from now on (sound familiar?). So I couldn't understand, for the life of me, why he seemed to be progressing.

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Huard didn't get to N.E. until 2002