The NFL draft is an inexact science and more of an art. Try as they will, stat people can't seem to put a value quotient on what's inside a player who may not fit the mold of the perfect NFL specimen for any given position. It's an immeasurable that oftentimes throws all the combined stats out the window with the dishwater.
Players who were thought too short, too slow, not strong enough, or had short arms and narrow shoulders are underestimated and make fools of stat geeks for whom combine stats are everything. It's just a fact that players fall through the cracks, defy the statistics, and excel.
NFL.com's Eric Edholm has rated the "Top five NFL draft values of the millennium at QB". The list includes such draft values as 24th pick in the 2005 first round, Aaron Rodgers; the 32nd pick in the 2018 first-round, Lamar Jackson; 75th pick in the 2012 third round, Russell Wilson; and 262nd pick in the seventh round in 2022, Brock Purdy, aka "Mr. Irrelevant", the last player selected in the 2022 draft. And then there was the best value of all, the 199th pick in the 2000 sixth round, aka The Goat.
NFL.com rates Tom Brady the top QB value of the millennium
While Edholm of NFL.com restricts his ratings to the millennium, one can easily take that metric and extend it to the entire history of the NFL. Even he admits that Brady is probably the best ever draft pick value. As the 199th pick in the 2000 draft, it's hard to argue. There'll probably never be another one like him.
"The 2000 NFL Draft is already infamous for the Brady pick, which helped launch a Patriots dynasty that lasted two decades...
With 89,214 career passing yards and 649 TD passes, Brady more than doubled the combined totals of the six QBs taken ahead of him. And, you know, he won seven Super Bowl rings.
Brady is probably the best value pick in draft history. In the 25 drafts since he was selected, there have been 48 quarterbacks chosen in Round 6, including five this past April. So far, only a handful -- Tyrod Taylor , Gardner Minshew and Derek Anderson -- have had a modicum of success in the league. Teams looking for the next Brady have mostly been left grasping at straws. "
Brady defied all the odds, all the prognostications, and all the draft experts who looked at his combine photo and wrote him off as a lower-round nobody. OOPS! What they failed to take into account was the "fire in the belly", the drive, the will to succeed, and the determination to overcome all odds to be great.
Tom Brady is the GOAT of all "GOATs"
There are Goats, the greatest of all time, and then there are perhaps a few players who transcend mere Goat status. Players like Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White, John Hannah, and, of course, Tom Brady take the nickname "Goat" to a whole new level of excellence.
Brady's mind-numbing 89,214 career passing yards are almost incomprehensible. They seem unbelievable in the truest sense. And to have thrown 649 touchdown passes (that's 3,894 points!), boggles the imagination. And his team's achievements are also incomparable.
Brady won seven Lombardi Trophies and was also named the MVP in five Super Bowls. And one factor in his career that must be taken into account to grasp the full significance of just how brilliant TB12 was. That was that he did all that without the aid of a general manager who provided top-quality supporting casts every season. Brady seldom had that.
The contention here is that had he been afforded top accompaniment every offseason, including a top offensive line and the NFL's best available wide receivers, he could have and would have won 12 or a baker's dozen worth of Lombardi Trophies.
That's the real shame of what could have been. Brady was the best of the best, and if he'd had the best players playing with him on offense every season, his achievements would have been insurmountable, if they aren't already. Regrettably, he often didn't. Regardless, Brady is certainly the best draft pick value ever. Just look at the stats.
More Patriots news and analysis: