The NFL's Top 50 Draft Classes of the Decade: No. 1 New England Patriots, 2000

The Patriots' 2000 Selections: Adrian Klemm, OT, Hawaii (No. 46)
J.R. Redmond, RB, Arizona State (No. 76)
Greg Randall, OT, Michigan State (No. 127)
Dave Stachelski, TE, Boise State (No. 141)
Jeff Marriott, DT, Missouri (No. 161)
Antwan Harris, S, Virginia (No. 187)
Tom Brady, QB, Michigan (No. 199)
David Nugent, DT, Purdue (No. 201)
Casey Tisdale, DE, New Mexico (No. 226)
Patrick Pass, FB, Georgia (No. 239).
* Patriots' first round selection given to Jets as compensation for Bill Belichick signing as the head coach of New England.

Team Achievements: 112-48, 4 Super Bowl Appearances (3 Super Bowl victories), seven playoff berths, seven consecutive double-digit win seasons, seven division titles, 21-game winning streak from 2006 to 2007, perfect 16-0 regular season in 2007.

Class Accolades: Tom Brady - 97-30 as a starter, All-Pro in 2007, 5 Pro Bowls, 2 Super Bowl MVPs, NFL MVP in 2007, Comeback Player of the Year in 2009, 30,884 career passing yards, 225 passing touchdowns and 99 interceptions, NFL record for passing touchdowns in a single-season (50), No. 1 in yards in 2005 and 2007, No. 1 in touchdowns in 2002 and 2007, 4,000+ passing yards in three different seasons.
Greg Randall - Started 23 games for New England.
Adrian Klemm - 10 starts during four-year stint in New England.
J.R. Redmond - 5 starts, 790 yards from scrimmage in 33 games played.
Antwan Harris - 32 total tackles in 52 games played with the Patriots.
Patrick Pass - 66 career receptions, 1,096 yards from scrimmage in 79 games.

Overall Draft Analysis: Let's go ahead and tackle the obvious shortcomings of the Patriots' 2000 draft class, outside of Tom Brady. The class failed to contribute a single regular starter, while Pass emerged as the lone selection to warrant a second contract. Collectively, the sub-par group started 52 games for New England, while Stachelski, Marriott, and Tisdale never played a down for the team. Critics should regard the draft's lack of value with relative scrutiny, as the Patriots possessed merely two first-day draft selections and the team's first draft pick did not occur until the No. 46 selection.

For signing Bill Belichick as head coach, the Jets subsequently received the Patriots' first-round pick as compensation. Belichick, the undisputed coach of the decade, has promptly rewarded the Patriots' sacrifice with a 112-48 regular season record, 14-4 postseason record, and three Super Bowl victories. Additionally, the Associated Press twice selected the future Hall-of-Famer as the NFL's Coach of the Year, while six of Belichick's assistant coaches have become NFL head coaches. Belichick's draft genius ranks amongst the greatest of the decade, while revolutionizing the league with several significant strategies. First, Belichick's active draft day approach has inspired a greater number of trades and draft-pick stockpiling strategies. Additionally, the Patriots repeatedly find value in small school athletes and late rounds, requiring more comprehensive scouting efforts league-wide. Furthermore, the decade's most successful franchises have attempted to follow the Tom Brady blueprint, by building the organization around an elite quarterback. Ultimately, other teams continue to adopt the Patriots' total control head coach philosophy, but Belichick's organizational skills, passion for preparation, football IQ, and will to succeed remain second to none. Inevitably, Belichick and Brady emerged as the franchise's two most significant catalysts to establish the New England dynasty.

Brady's unrivaled value, as the decade's most valuable draft pick, circumvents the lack of long-term contributions from the future Hall-of-Famer's classmates. Without question, Brady ranks as the most influential player of the decade, one of the most valuable draft picks of all-time, and the second greatest postseason quarterback in NFL history. In the sixth round with the No. 199 pick, the Patriots remarkably secured the draft decade's finest player, after six other quarterbacks had subsequently been selected. Brady impressively trails the eleven other quarterbacks taken in 2000, 277 to 225 in career passing touchdowns. Brady also ranks No. 1 in passing yards and touchdowns, amongst quarterbacks drafted during the past decade.

The unheralded University of Michigan product currently holds a myriad of NFL records, including the most passing touchdowns in a regular season (50) and season (56), the highest touchdown to interception ratio in a season (+42), the most completions in a single Super Bowl (32) and most career Super Bowl completions (100), the most touchdowns in a single quarter (5), the most consecutive playoff wins (10), and most consecutive games with 3+ passing touchdowns (10). Brady's postseason brilliance remains only rivaled by the greatest quarterback of all-time, Joe Montana. Brady impressively won his first ten playoff games (including three Super Bowls), while compiling an overall 14-4 postseason record as the Patriots' starter. In the quarterback's four Super Bowl appearances, Brady compiled seven touchdowns and a single interception, while posting a 95.1 career Super Bowl passer rating. Additionally, Brady possesses the highest career winning percentage of all NFL quarterbacks who have started a minimum of 100 games, including an unprecedented 21-game winning streak from 2006 to 2007. The Patriots' prototypical field general has engineered 21 fourth quarter comebacks, in addition to an astonishing 29 game-winning drives (6 in the playoffs). The most underrated measure of elite NFL quarterbacks, such as Brady, remains how the player impacts others in the offense. Brady routinely transforms unheralded draft picks into elite NFL receivers, including Troy Brown (8th Round), Deion Branch (2nd Round), David Givens (7th round), and Wes Welker (Undrafted), as well as resurrecting Randy Moss's Hall-of-Fame career (36 touchdowns in two full seasons with Brady).

Ultimately, the Patriots' 2000 draft class altered the NFL landscape more than any other class, during the past decade. The Saints, at No. 10, remain the only other top ten draft class to win a Super Bowl, while Brady accomplished the feat three times in four seasons. Each season, postseason success remains the singular goal of each NFL player and franchise. Belichick certainly surrounded Brady with a tremendous supporting cast; however, Brady subsequently authored his own legacy of greatness, repeatedly delivering throughout the decade, rewriting NFL history in the process. Elite quarterback play inevitably serves as the greatest contributor to prolonged team success in the NFL. As a result, Brady emerges superior, even when compared to the collective value of the decade's other deeper and similarly talented classes. The quarterback position indelibly affects wins and losses, particularly in the postseason, far more profoundly than elite running backs, receivers, and defenders. Brady ranks as the decade's gold standard of draft value, long-term sustained individual and team success, and unparalleled postseason achievement. A compelling argument simply has not emerged at this point to dethrone the Patriots' class as the most valuable draft of the decade. In the exceptional case of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and New England's '00 draft, less is certainly more.

The Patriots' "Perfect Draft in Retrospect
(Keeping trades, only same positions are eligible)
No. 46 - OT Damion McIntosh, No. 76 - RB Mike Anderson, No. 127 - OT Mark Tauscher, No. 161 - DT Cedric Woodard, No. 187 - S Michael Green, No. 199 - QB Tom Brady, No. 201 - DT Alfonso Boone, No. 226 - DE Adewale Ogunleye, No. 239 - FB Patrick Pass.

References: Draft results and statistics as reflected on NFL.com and Pro-Football-Reference.com.

New England Patriots, "Tom Brady." http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=566