NFL Network just dropped its “Top 100 Players” list ahead of the 2019 season. Tom Brady, who earned the top spot in 2018, ranked No. 6 despite guiding the New England Patriots to a sixth Super Bowl title last season.
This isn’t sitting well with Skip Bayless, who declared Thursday on FS1’s “Undisputed” that Brady deserved to retain his No. 1 ranking. Aaron Donald, Drew Brees, Khalil Mack, Patrick Mahomes and Todd Gurley all ranked ahead of Brady on the list, which is voted on annually by the players themselves.
“Patrick Mahomes is just not better than Tom Brady right here, right now,” Bayless said. “We saw one year — one starting year — in which the NFL did not have the offseason to try to figure out what are the kid’s weaknesses, right?
“I’m sorry, (Brady’s) just better,” Bayless added. “He’s smarter, he’s more efficient, he’s a better leader and his team beat Mahomes’ team (in the 2018 regular season and the AFC Championship Game). I’m sorry, he beat him twice.”
Shannon Sharpe vehemently disagreed with Bayless, which isn’t all that surprising given the former’s reputation as a Patriots hater and the latter’s reputation as a Brady supporter. But Sharpe actually might have a point, as Mahomes’ numbers were far better than Brady’s last season, even though the Patriots defeated the Chiefs during the regular season and in the AFC Championship Game and these particular rankings aren’t supposed to reflect lifetime achievements.
If they did, then obviously Brady would be No. 1 every year, for he’s the greatest player in NFL history.
