Every NFL scout has one: the player they completely missed on. For an entire generation of talent evaluators, that player is Tom Brady, and expert Tony Pauline’s original 2000 report shows exactly where they went wrong. He is the perfect example of NFL scouts not always getting everything right. In the latest edition of EssentiallySports’ DraftCast, our NFL Draft expert, Tony Pauline, broke down why Brady wasn’t highly touted coming out of Michigan.

“On page six, two-thirds of the way down, giving a 3.45 grade, is a guy named Tom Brady from Michigan,” Pauline shared. “Here’s my scouting report on Tom Brady: Tough, smart quarterback with great feel, awareness and leadership skills. Quick drop in the pocket, sets his feet and steps into throws. Poised and patient and buys as much time as possible in the pocket. He surveys the field and goes through his receiver progressions. Sees the field, does not make bad decisions, and is quick finding the receiver and delivers the ball with a quick, over-the-top delivery. Gives his receivers a chance, puts air under deep throws and puts passes out front and lets receivers run to the ball.”

But that all sounds great, right? So why was Brady selected in the sixth round instead of the first? Pauline broke it all down.

Why Tom Brady wasn’t viewed as a top QB

After Pauline gave all his positives for Brady, he moved to the negatives, which were primarily his physical attributes.

“Accurate throwing on the move, but does lose something on passes,” Pauline explained. “Not mobile, elusive and lacks great physical skills. Does not have a big league arm, receivers have to wait on the ball on timing patterns and passes lack zip. A signal caller that lacks tangibles, but is someone who can be productive if put in the right system and surrounded by the right talent.”

Brady was viewed as a poor athlete heading into the draft. Honestly, it’s hard to blame the scouts for thinking that. Just look at his combined numbers and tell me this is someone teams would invest a first-round pick in.

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Brady’s photo at the combine also did him little to no favors…

Scouts and draft experts from around the country completely overlooked Brady’s mental makeup because his physical traits were below average. Little did anyone know that the guy pictured above would go on to throw for the most yards and touchdowns of anyone in NFL history while also setting the record for most regular season wins (251), playoff wins (35), Super Bowls (7), and Super Bowl MVPs (5).

Brady made everyone look stupid. The craziest part about it is that if you put Brady in the 2026 draft class, teams would skip right back over him again.