Tom Brady Picked 9th Overall In MMQB's 'All-Time NFL Draft'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Considering the importance of the QB position, Brady may be the best player period. But to a group of experts at The MMQB, he's barely top-10.
Peter King's website on Sunday revealed its first-ever "All-Time NFL Draft." It's the real-life manifestation of one of football's ultimate hypotheticals: if you got to choose from every player ever, how would you build your team?
For the draft, King assembled a "league" of 12 "GMs", including himself, to pick teams from the pool of every player in NFL history. The group also included former NFL GM Bill Polian, CBS analyst and Hall of Fame former quarterback Dan Fouts, and legendary former scout and NFL exec Gil Brandt.
You'd think Brady would be one of the first names off the board in an all-time draft. He was, but you may be surprised to learn that Brady actually fell to the ninth overall pick, selected to King's team. Brady was the second QB off the board after Johnny Unitas, who went third overall to a team run by longtime football writer Rick Gosselin.
Former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was the first overall pick, which would be hard to argue. Bill Belichick might agree with that pick. Former Steelers defensive tackle "Mean" Joe Greene went No. 2 overall, also not a bad selection.
But things got a little screwy when Fouts took punter - yes, punter - Ray Guy at No. 4 overall. Guy is easily the best punter in league history, but still a heck of a reach as Fouts' top player. Also selected ahead of Brady were former Bengals tackle Anthony Muñoz, former Browns running back Jim Brown, former Packers/Eagles/Panthers defensive end Reggie White, and former Packers wide receiver Don Hutson (who played from 1933-45).
Needless to say, King got an absolute steal at No. 9 to snag Brady, who started a run of quarterbacks at the end of the first round and the start of the second. Following Brady were Otto Graham, Joe Montana, John Elway, and Roger Staubach.
King's team gave Brady some serious weapons. Among them are wideout Larry Fitzgerald, running back Gale Sayers, tight end Jason Witten, and left tackle Joe Thomas. He also drafted a defense that includes J.J. Watt, Jack Lambert, Troy Polamalu, and Brian Dawkins.
The group also did a one-round coaches draft. King chose Belichick fourth after Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, and a tandem of Marv Levy and Tony Dungy selected by - who else - Polian. King then traded Belichick to football historian John Turney for Chuck Noll in order to "keep it interesting."
Good thing these are fake teams, or else most of the league would be kicking themselves over skipping Brady all over again. Check out the full results at the MMQB website.
