Brady v Henson
Why was Tom Brady so much better than Drew Henson over the course of his college and professional career? One has been the greatest of all time, and the other one of the great 5 star prospects of all time. Whatever "experts" measure as ingredients for great quarterbacking does not seem to work in practice. Have we learned anything? If Henson and Brady were in the recruiting class of 2023, would we now know that Brady is the better prospect? Would we be down on Harbaugh if he didn't promise Henson a starting job along with tons of NIL money?
As a non-expert, it seems to me that Brady is very accurate throwing the football, and that is perhaps the most important thing we should be measuring in evaluating a QB. Is there any way to measure what he does well?
My first year at Michigan was 1999. I was influenced by rankings and the Michigan Daily telling me that Drew Henson was going to be a GOAT. It took me two seasons to see who was better, but it took over a decade to realize that the GOAT was my 2nd choice for quarterback at Michigan. Brady works harder and smarter than everyone else - that’s the difference.
He was my choice over Brady too, until Brady kept outperforming him on the field. I was excited to see how he would do his junior and senior seasons, thinking he would turn into the greatest Michigan QB ever.
Who knows how his career turns out if he stays for his senior season and goes into the NFL Draft in 2002.
This is incredibly short sighted. Brady and Henson overlapped in Brady's 4th and 5th years in the program. Henson in his first and second. Brady was better and definitively closed the competition with the PSU comeback in Happy Valley. But it was clear that Henson was going to be special.
Henson gets a foot injury (as I recall) in camp leading into his junior season and Navarre fills in and I think he blows a game at UCLA and is in the process of losing the season opener at Illinois. Henson comes in in relief at Illinois and performs (and we get bailed out by a questionable non-call of an Athonly Thomas fumble -- foreshadowing disaster about to come).
In the season when Henson was the undisputed starter, he was outrageous. It has been stated on MGo that it was the best season of QB play at Michigan since the start of the Carr era. The general belief was that when Henson came back for year 4, he was going to win the Heisman and be the #1 overall pick. These last two points were never in play for Brady.
Then came George Steinbrenner and the Yankees.
Yes, Brady is the GOAT and on straight up merit should have been the starter those two years. But Henson was the prodigy and looked the part when he had the experience. And as much as we can look back on specific aspects of the Carr years and question certain decisions, if the requirement to get an elite QB recruit on campus was some promise of playing time early, it wasn't a bad call.
We don't always get to see their work ethic and/or mental approach to the game. Henson by far had more tools, but Brady wanted it more and found ways to best use what he had.
Not seeing the relevance.
brady is the best ever.
Henson played and shared snaps as a true freshman with the best qb ever. He then left and played baseball.
We will never know how good he would have been. We do know that he left and played baseball for 3 years, still got drafted in the NFL(1 of 13 qbs drafted in 2003) and still played in the NFL for 4 years. Given his situation, the HS recruiting rankings on Henson were likely on point.
That Henson never gets credit for that always astounds me —- he became an NFL quarterback within a year of not even playing the sport of football for three whole calendar years! That is an accomplishment in its own right, and there’s no guarantee Brady or anyone else could have done that themselves if they had literally taken 1000+ days off from the sport in their prime growing days.
Henson isn’t Brady - but (1) he just took a different path (baseball) and (2) Henson’s own NFL career is something to be proud of in its own right, given the circumstances.
“still played in the NFL for 4 years.”
He played in a total of 9 games, threw 1 TD and 1 INT, with 98 yds total. He spent most of his NFL career on the practice squad.
Dang man…I assume your nfl career was longer/more prolific?
The OP is asking for a comparison. I didn’t see the qualifier that to have an opinion, one must have had a better athletic career than one of the comparison’s subjects.
No, but it's an annoyingly common response.
When a player is described as having "played in the NFL for 4 years" the natural assumption is that the player saw relatively frequent action on the field for those 4 years, even if in a backup role.
Henson saw action in nine games total—7 for the Cowboys in 2004 and 2 for the Lions in 2008.
He was inactive for the entire 2005 season, and played for the Rhein Fire in 2006. Later in 2006 he was signed to the practice squad for the Vikings, but saw no game action. In 2007 he was cut in training camp by the Vikings.
In the nine games he played, he attempted a grand total of 20 passes, completing 11 of them.
It's not a criticism of Henson to state the bare facts about his NFL career, nor does his NFL career have anything to do with his significant achievements as a QB for Michigan.
The ability to decipher a defense and make split second decisions and have the tools to utilize it is the single most powerful ingredient for success as an NFL QB.
It’s much more important than it is in college.
"The ability to decipher a defense and make split second decisions and have the tools to utilize it is the single most powerful ingredient for success as an NFL QB."
Yes. All you have to do is look at scouting of college QBs with many reps at good schools. It's still a dice roll even for scouts with years of experience. You can't say for sure how they'll do when the speed of the game increases. It could be that Henson, even without baseball, never would have prospered as an NFL QB. (Maybe he has a slightly longer career.)
The story is similar in baseball. Henson may not have had MLB ability. What makes him fascinating is that he just barely made it in *two* professional sports. There are only a handful of people in history who've done even that.
What an amazing athlete Henson was. I was surprised he didn’t stick around the NFL at least as a backup.
And if only he could hit the curve.
I will never understand scouts and analyst obsession with arm strength as being one of the most sought after QB qualities. There are so many "Cannon for an Arm" quarterback taken in the first few rounds in the draft who don't pan out. Deep balls are only thrown a hand full of times a game, and sure it makes a great highlight, but should not be the most important trait.
Brady, Manning, Brees all had decent arm strength, but could read a defense and put the ball on target. IMHO, Rodgers is good, but greatly benefits from playing the Lions, Bears, and Vikings 6 times a season.
1) it's not about throwing deep balls - it's about throwing out routes.
2) Brady was drafted by MLB as a catcher, and his arm was considered one his baseball strengths. Brees was a HS baseball player who was recruited to play college baseball.
Uhhh according to his commercial…Manning was a 6’5” rocket armed QB. Who said he had avg arm strength?
Manning must be taken off this list immediately.
I don't think it's possible to predict a Tom Brady outcome from anyone. He's not just accurate, he is always exactly on time and throws to the correct spot based on presnap and postsnap reads. He is essentially his team's offensive coordinator, is on the field, and knows what all 22 guys are going to do and are doing. He is also inspirational to his team and plays a role in getting them completely focused.
In a word, he's a miracle.
Its unfair to compare anyone to him. On Henson, he could have been a great college and pro QB, but he bailed on his career. He had no chance to become Tom Brady. However, if scouts today looked at them both , they would still rate Henson higher, there's no question about that.
Favorite game attending at the shoe was Henson shredding osu and some guy in the urinals screaming he could not stand those f***** guys in those f***** yellow pants while my Michigan shirt was covered by a yellow ski jacket because it was so cold. Guess they could not handle the weather back then either.
I get your point. Revisionist history not withstanding most would covet the 5 star and what could be over proven high floor, limited ceiling and alright eye test production Brady performed at most of his Michigan starts. He should have never been taking out of msu game though and that was a result of the play em cause we have too mind set that perhaps coach is trying to avoid.
Brady was the better player in 1999, but Henson in 2000 was a higher performer than Brady ever was in college.
Using two cherry-picked examples is not how you stick it to recruiting agencies.
Brady's perhaps the best QB in history at reading the defense post-snap. He's well above average at everything else, too, except speed.
2000 Drew Henson was the best Michigan QB I've ever seen, going back to Rick Leach.
I don't have anything to add on Brady v Henson. But I think JJ has as much, or more, arm strength than Drew Henson. Just based on a loose eye test watching some of these clips and comparing to the "zip" that JJ puts on the ball.
I glorify the past as much as anyone, but I think JJ measures up here.
Elusive, fast, and threw a very catchable ball. Damn those Yankees for pulling him away.
M was playing from behind in just about every one of these games. Seeing it again brought back a lot of frustration in addition to the good memories.
You sure? The Brady performance against Bama in '99 remains the greatest college QB performance I have ever seen.
Still hurts to see that 2000 team lose in Evanston. A-Train was breaking away.
Drew was good. Really good. In terms of accuracy, he led the conference in passing efficiency and had the lowest career interception percentage.
If he doesn't go the baseball route, this conversation isn't happening. The 2000 team would've played for a national title if the defense doesn't lay an egg at Northwestern. Also, Lloyd went into the turtle position at Purdue, which allowed them to make up an 18-point deficit. We could've hung 50 on Purdue that afternoon.
It's a darn shame he didn't come back for 2001. We probably win a game on the West Coast, never hear the name "Spartan Bob" and kill Tressel's momentum before it gets started. Drew was that good.
Lloyd doesn't get enough attention for the 2000 season. Failure of his coordinators is ultimately on him. Why would you rein in your offense when you are in a dog fight?
There’s a reason the term “Lloydball” exists.
Thank you..... Thank you....Thank you....
Its been 22 years, but Lloyd Carr had more to do in stopping Drew than opposing defenses. Drew was primed to come back in '01 as a Heisman favorite, but chose to take George's money and play baseball.....
Brady is the GOAT, but 31 teams thought very little about him in the draft. What Brady did during his professional career will go down as one of the greatest of all time.....
My opinion, but no one will ever convince me otherwise that HAD Drew stayed with football and played in '01......history would have been a whole lot different and Drew was primed to have a very successful NFL career.....
Most people point out (correctly) how Brady played better than Drew their one year together.....
Well..... DUH..... One is a 4 year senior with several game experience under his belt and the other one was a TRUE Freshman......
I would certainly hope that the senior plays better.....
I watched a story about Brady on Rivals.com he was a high 4-star recruit ,with offers from like 25 schools including Michigan,Cal,USC,Illinios,UCLA and was drafted by MLB as a catcher .its not like Brady was some "very lucky once in a life time scrub" He was/is AN ELITE athlete
I know people will always talk bad about Henson (not living up to potential --at one point had National high school home run and RBI record ) how many people BEFORE the age of 22 has 6million in the bank .was as starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys,Michigan Wolverines and started at 3rd for the Yankees ?
Henson career may have turned out different if he just went with Houston and became the 1st pick in the NFL draft ..but well never know ..Brady being the NFL greatest player alltime and Henson "what couldve been" will keep the story alive for 100s of years --kinda like FAB 5 not winning NC ,gives people stuff to talk about .but always keeps em around
“was as starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys”
It’s a bit misleading to call him a starting QB for the Cowboys.
Henson was buried on the depth chart during his two years with Dallas. The only game he started in 2004 was because starter Testaverde was injured, and the ineffective Henson was still yanked in the 3rd quarter by Parcells who put Testaverde in the game. Henson was on the Dallas roster for 2005 but was inactive for the entire season.
Don, I prefer Ralph's description. Even if misleading, I was there and I was team Henson. I wasn't against Brady, I was a 17/18 year old and 1999/2000 were the first seasons I dedicated myself to (grew up a fan, but only then did I know for certain I was going to Michigan). Henson was something special. I never forgave the Steinbrenners for that. Even if Drew could have chosen differently, that one bit me right as we were riding high.
The only part of his description I referenced, and took issue with, was about starting for the Cowboys.
When it comes to his time in the NFL, Drew Henson has nothing to apologize for—he was better at playing football than virtually every other human on the planet, and there are hundreds of other guys in NFL history whose careers weren't any more significant than his was. I just don't see the need to portray his NFL career as bigger than it was. It's not backed up by the facts.
I still believe he made a gigantic mistake to bail on football for baseball, and am still convinced that if he'd played his senior season and stayed healthy, he would have been drafter no lower than third overall, and would have signed a much bigger contract than he got from baseball. Who knows how his NFL career would have developed if he'd taken that route.
Yes i know he only had the one start (they shouldve kept him in after halftime) but i was basically saying he did this before he was 22 --MLB Starter and NFL Starting QB ... i believe he still the only person to play 2 or more pro sports ,at the age of 21 ,couldve changed since then
Did he actually start for the Yankees, maybe his second year for one game? He only had 9 ABs total over the two years (baseball reference). Also iirc, Bowden was the first to promise Henson that he wouldn't recruit a QB the next year or maybe two, so Carr had to match it.
Nobody could pooch punt like Henson
I think Brian Griese was a better pooch punter than Henson
lol I'll never get why people knock Henson while praising Brady.
SUPER LONG...BUT IT'S 5am on Saturday and I often have trouble sleeping.
1. Brady isn't the best QB in Michigan history alone.
2. When you look at college and the NFL, Brady is the best QB in the history of earth, lol...meaning Henson isn't behind him, literally every other person to walk the face of the planet is behind him.
3. Henson was GREAT, Brady was just better as an upperclassmen. Henson would've been the #1 overall pick in the draft and folks act like he was trash, you can't be that good and be trash just because Brady became all-time great.
4. Take Brady and Baseball away and Henson could've easily wound up as one of the top 3 QBs in school history and who knows what he would've done in the NFL. But he showed he was a big time college QB. That game in the Shoe, he made throws that no one at Michigan could make (until Henne came along).
5. Outside of Brady and healthy Denard Robinson (in Rich Rod's system), you can make an argument that Henson is the next best QB since his time playing at Michigan. It would be very hard to argue over Henne, but I wouldn't call you bat shit crazy for saying he was basically Henne who could run. Because he was. That said, I'd still call you crazy, because at some point the numbers have to matter.
Henson didn't even play a full season as a junior...he was injured and John Narrave got the first 4 or 5 games. But what he did that year was enough to show, he had everything to be a BIG TIME college QB.
Last if this is a Cade/JJ thing, stop it. Tom Brady was always capable of winning games at Michigan, he wasn't the game manager who didn't lose games until he got to the Patriots. People act like THAT early NFL Brady is who was at Michigan. No. Brady would put the team on his back and go get wins.
Cade has been more like Patriots Brady, which is fine, that version won 2 Super Bowls. We'll see what he is this year, because JJ, I've said this before, has a chance to leave Michigan as the best QB in the history of the winged helmet.
Good things.
George Steinbrenner
I remember my grandfather telling me that George S. was a big osu guy for whatever reason.
What was this MLB owner's connection to the school of aspiring middle managers along the olentangy?
Steinbrenner was born in Ohio and got his masters degree from OSU.
Aha, understood.
Tom's greatest tools are his brain and accuracy. Drew's greatest tools were his athleticism. Tom made better decisions on (deciphering defenses, etc) and off the field (Drew chose baseball). This is why Tom won the job.
I think if Henson had stayed with football he had the tools to be a good starting QB once he improved his decision making, but 3 years out killed that shot
If it happened today, one would have transferred out (they might have stayed through their sophomore years) as I think will happen with our current Brady/Henson duo.
I don't think either of the Mc's (JJ/Cade) want to leave, but will have to to get playing time.
I used to see Drew in the dorms. He always struck me as a kid with talent that didn’t want to put in the work necessary to be the best. When he got that $2m signing bonus from the Yankees, he seemed to relax and stop competing.
Interesting. But it's a common situation with highly rated 5 star prospects who excel at sports from an early age. Henson was so dominant in baseball and football in high school, and everyone probably told him how great he was. Some kids can shrug that off and keep up a high work ethic. Others can't.
If Dreisbach didn’t have so many injuries, one could wonder how he would’ve turned out. Would we have ever really seen Brady until at least 1999? He was the starter over Griese too until the thumb injuries. Then got injured again after Griese left and then it was over for him in 1997 and 1998. The ifs and buts hypotheticals are always interesting looking back on.
Henne was the guy who’s potential at Michigan was most crippled by injury. Both his junior and senior years he couldn’t throw in November when it mattered most. The promise of Braylonfest when he was a freshman was never fully realized.
For most impacted by injury, I’m going to have to mention Antonio Bass. He had moved from wide out to QB and, per Carr, was going to break out. Big time. He got hurt in camp and never played again. .