Grading The Six Quarterbacks Taken Ahead Of Tom Brady In The 2000 NFL Draft

With one gazillion wins, seven Super Bowl championships, and a legacy of being the best football player ever to step foot on an NFL field, it's apparent that the former New England Patriot and Tampa Bay Buccaneer player was far and away the biggest draft steal of all time. He was selected with the 199th overall pick in his draft.

The absurdly successful career he put together is an excellent case study of how the biggest professional sports league in America can whiff so hard on a player so many times. How he flew under the radar seems completely insane in hindsight and changed the way teams evaluate prospects out of college.

There were six quarterbacks selected ahead of him. Let's break them all down.

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1. Chad Pennington (New York Jets)

Hilariously, you can almost always find the Jets picking a quarterback with an early pick in the draft who's clearly outplayed by someone chosen later. It is a cruel fate for the team's fans, but worthless team ownership will do that to an organization.

Pennington was drafted with the 16th overall pick and had one good season (2002) with the Jets. The rest of his career with New York ranged from okay to just bad, though this was largely due to a rotator cuff on his right shoulder and subsequent surgeries that weren't entirely successful. In his 2006 season, he threw for 3,652 yards yet tossed 16 interceptions.

2008 Chad Pennington. You just had to be there. (@NFLLegacy) #GoFins pic.twitter.com/jsC3T4xwCV

— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) July 5, 2024

Then he went to the Miami Dolphins and had a great 2006 season. It's a story that's often repeated itself for terrible franchises -- a quarterback going to a better-run organization and immediately having more success. That's the way it works.

In the subsequent year, he was the backup to Chad Henne but injured his throwing shoulder immediately. The ailment was severe, and it effectively ended his career. Pennington had some potential but was never able to live up to it, largely due to factors out of his control.

It's always tougher to grade players who suffer from being on terrible teams and bad injury luck. But we'll try to do it here.

Grade: B-

2. Giovanni Carmazzi (San Francisco 49ers)

With the 65th overall pick, the San Francisco 49ers selected Carmazzi, who was seen as an excellent athlete for a quarterback and a potential star in the league, should he develop his passing game. That didn't happen. He was terrible at the position and crashed out within two seasons.

He never saw the field during the regular season. This was partly due to a nerve issue in his throwing arm that hindered his mobility, and even after shoulder surgery, he didn't improve. The talent may not have been there to succeed at the next level in the first place.

The greatest 10 seconds in ESPN history remains The Brady 6 "Where Are They Now?" on Giovanni Carmazzi: pic.twitter.com/OtqxkRSetI

— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) April 23, 2018

The Brady 6 is an excellent documentary on all the signal-callers taken before him in the draft. Carmazzi's NFL career went nowhere, and he's since moved on to other pursuits.

Grade: F

3. Chris Redman (Baltimore Ravens)

The Ravens chose Redman with the 75th overall pick in the draft. He spent his career as a backup, playing occasionally in relief of the starters with the Ravens and Atlanta Falcons, and never saw a full-time starting job. third round picks at QB rarely do, anyway.

Jan. 1, 2012: The last day any of the six QB's drafted before Tom Brady in 2000 played an NFL game (Chris Redman, Falcons) pic.twitter.com/pKFeXYYZf8

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 4, 2019

To his credit, he lasted longer than any of the other players on this list. He played in 30 games in his career, starting 12 of them, and finished his career with 3,179 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He had a few solid games along the way.

Not terrible for a third-rounder at QB, but it would have been nice if he lasted longer in the league.

Grade: C-

4. Tee Martin (Pittsburgh Steelers)

The Steelers didn't select Martin until the 163rd overall pick rolled around as a compensatory selection in the fifth round. Martin played in just three total regular season games and only attempted 16 passes. He was never a starting-caliber QB.

Tee Martin: “You got a five piece. You want a six piece?

Lamar: “Nah. I’m cool.”

(🎥Ravens) pic.twitter.com/uPnh3I8Wnt

— Angie Michelle (@AnGdmedizzle) December 19, 2024

Since then, Martin has moved into coaching, and had a relatively successful career. He moved between high school and college coaching positions before landing a job with the Baltimore Ravens as their wide receivers coach. He was then promoted to quarterbacks coach.

While his NFL career didn't go anywhere, he now is part of engineering the excellent play of quarterback Lamar Jackson. And that's worth something. And taking shots on quarterbacks this late in the draft isn't a bad idea for NFL teams. So, it's hard to give anyone an F at this stage.

Grade: D

5. Marc Bulger (New Orleans Saints)

With the 168th overall pick in the sixth round, the Saints selected Bulger, who actually looks a lot like Jimmy Garoppolo if you think about it. Bulger wasn't retained by the Saints long after being drafted, lasting through training camp. He was then waived and signed by the Atlanta Falcons before shortly being cut again thereafter.

He was signed by the Los Angeles Rams after that and went 6-0 in his first six games as a starter in relief of the injured QB1 in the 2003 season. He got hurt, though, which cut that season short. In 2003, he backed up Kurt Warner, but Warner was injured and later benched, and Bulger brought his team to 12-4.

Lot of talk about Strout’s 470. Here is the old rookie record. Marc Bulger 453 in his 4th NFL start! 21 years ago exactly on Friday.

11/10/02

Isaac Bruce goes for 10 catches 163 yds 3 TDs

Tory Holt 7 grabs 118 yds

Also kinda the beginning of Marshall Faulk’s downfall. pic.twitter.com/AS66aI7QNa

— Is Crockett (@Is_Crockett_) November 8, 2023

With the help of should-be-Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Torry Holt, Bulger, and his Rams nearly beat the Carolina Panthers in the playoffs but fell just short, and the upstart QB garnered Pro-Bowl honors. After a solid 2004 season, he failed to log another winning season, though his 2006 campaign was impressive, as he tossed 24 touchdowns to just eight interceptions.

It was an impressive run for someone chosen so late, any QB selected after the third round who earns a large contract extension easily justifies the pick the team made on him.

Grade: A

6. Spergon Wynn (Cleveland Browns)

Leave it up to the Browns to always choose a bad quarterback no matter where they pick in the draft, up until 2018 at least. Wynn played in seven games for the Browns in his first season, completing 22 of his 54 pass attempts for 167 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception.

Spergon Wynn to the Browns in the 6th round flashes across the screen…don’t watch this, Browns fans pic.twitter.com/CXuCkoeD5p

— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) April 17, 2020

Browns fans who want to wonder what could have been and want to experience a bit of pain in their chests can look at this throwback and see his name at the top-right of the screen while Mike Tirico and Mel Kiper rattle off praise for the future best quarterback of all time.

Wynn was an inconsequential pick. He never did much of anything in the league, and if Brady weren't selected 17 picks later, he'd have been quickly forgotten. But the ignominious title of being a QB chosen before the greatest to ever do it is an immortal label.

Grade: D-

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