Tom Brady may be the greatest quarterback of all time, but ESPN predicts he won't even rank among the top-5 best active NFL quarterbacks during the 2021 season.
During Monday's episode of Get Up!, host Mike Greenberg revealed "an ESPN panel of more than 50 experts" predicted Brady would be the sixth-best quarterback in the league during his 22nd season.
ESPN analyst and former NFL cornerback Domonique Foxworth defended the prediction, arguing that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott-- who ranked one spot ahead of Brady at No. 5 behind Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Josh Allen -- had "outplayed" Brady prior to experiencing a season-ending injury during his fifth game of the 2020 season.
"All of the advanced statistics, he was better than Tom Brady in that," Foxworth said. "The entire [2019] season before that, when they both played all 16 games, Dak Prescott was better than him in all of the advanced statistical metrics then too. So I find it hard to believe all of a sudden Tom Brady is going to be better than him, if Dak remains healthy, Dak's going to continue to outperform Tom Brady."
Prescott threw for 1,856 yards, nine touchdowns, and four interceptions on 151 of 22 passing during his first five games of the 2020 season.
Brady threw for 1,375 yards, 12 touchdowns, and eight interceptions on 126 of 196 passing through his first five games, though openly admitted he faced a learning curve adjusting to a new offense during his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending his first 20 with the New England Patriots.
"Midway through the year, I was still trying to figure out how to call the plays," Brady said during an appearance on the JoeBucsFan.com podcast in May. "I just read [the plays] off my wristband and tried to visualize what was going to happen.
Brady also revealed that he underwent knee surgery after winning an NFL record seventh Super Bowl in February, which he said he needed prior to the 2020 season, but instead opted to play through the injury.
"It was an injury I dealt with really since last April, May," Brady told reporters in June via the Buccaneers' verified Twitter account. "I knew I would have to do something at the end of the year. Happy I did it.
"Something that certainly needed to be done. And there was a great outcome. I'm happy about that. I feel I'll be able to so some different things this year than I was able to do last year."
In February, Brady recorded 201 yards and three touchdowns on 21 of 29 passing in Super Bowl LV, winning a record fifth Super Bowl MVP Award, which surpassed his own previous record set in Super Bowl LI (2017).
Brady now owns a 7-3 record all-time in the NFL's biggest game and surpassed his own previous record for most Super Bowl wins by a quarterback (6) set in February 2019. The 43-year-old also broke his own record as the oldest quarterback to both start and win a Super Bowl also set in 2019.
The win was Tampa Bay's second Super Bowl victory in franchise history. The Buccaneers are also the only team in NFL history to both host and win a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
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