WestQuad

August 15th, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^

Brady definitely hurt himself running a [7.2] forty and looking like a dough boy, but I was shocked at how low he went in the draft.  He was everything in that Bama game that he is now (as far as decision making and play making).  

I think Todd Collins not playing well for the Bills and Greise being a third stringer for 2 years hurt the perception of a Michigan QB being a commodity.     Harbaugh, Grbac, Collins, (Greise) and even oft-injured Dreisbach sort of had Michigan bcoming a new  Quarterback U.  Harbuagh and Grbac had pretty good pro careers, but I think the Halo was off when Brady was drafted.   Collins ended up being a one of the best (longest playing) backups in the league and had some good games when he started late in his career.  Greise ended up having an o.k. pro career and Dreisbach looked awesome in a few pre-season games before injuries killed him.   Add Henne and Navarre and Michigan had a nice run of QBs for awhile.  

I realize I'm talking to myself at this point, but I wonder where that run of QBs stacks up to the 80's-90's Miami or the 2000's USC or other QB Us as far a productive pro output.   Brady definitely tips the scale, but Grbac and Greise were pro-bowlers.  (Does Harbuagh count as a contemporary?)

 

stephenrjking

August 15th, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^

Griese was a third-stringer for one year on a Super Bowl team behind top five all-time QB John Elway and former starter-and-presumed-replacement Bubby Brister. Griese then beat out Brister for the starting role in 1999 and played fine; Bill Walsh had high praise for Griese out of college and nothing seemed to change that. Meanwhile, Elvis Grbac was beginning to get it in KC and developing into a solid starter there.

Even if these things weren't the case, the school has little or no influence on the decision to draft a QB. Brady isn't a third-rounder if Todd Collins has a 2-to-1 TD-to-interception ratio. 

Was it a miss? You bet, but Brady's actual attributes didn't wow anybody when he was in college because he didn't have great physical tools and he didn't need to become a great read-and-throw decisionmaker in Michigan's offense with the vanilla playcalls and brilliant athletes he was throwing to. 

 

Michigasling

August 15th, 2017 at 3:16 PM ^

The NFL perception of Brady's potential was colored by freshman Henson being put in during Brady time, implying the coaches didn't have much faith in him.  Even most fans probably weren't aware that Steinbrenner not only had Henson's baseball rights but that he was a BIG OSU booster.  We know about him giving Henson a take-it-now-or-leave-it offer to keep him from playing in his senior year.  (And then put him in his Columbus minor league team to rousing boos from the fans.)  

How much of the early platooning was due to the Steinbrenner pressure and how much was, according to Carr years later, that they needed to put Henson in because his summer baseball commitment didn't give him enough football practice time, so they had to put him in for the future?  Either way, why would an NLF team put faith in a QB whose own college coaches kept bouncing him for a frosh? 

PS:  Good to know that Henson & Brady were good friends.  And good to know that all's well that... still hasn't ended.

 

Michigasling

August 15th, 2017 at 9:11 PM ^

I didn't know all the background then or why the fans kept calling for this Henson kid, watching the games on TV from afar.  Brady had to wait his turn, so why couldn't the freshman?  He didn't seem any better to me than Brady.  So I was pissed on his behalf.  Eventually the coaches let him play, with the fairy tale ending of the bowl game making up for all of it.

Until the NFL draft.  And the rounds of ignoring him only adding to the legend.