San Francisco 49ers: 10 biggest ‘what ifs?’ in NFL Draft history

No. 7: What if 49ers drafted Tom Brady?

There are inevitably going to be plenty of teams asking themselves the same question. The No. 199 overall pick from the 2000 NFL Draft, Michigan quarterback Tom Brady, was neither heralded nor expected to be anything more than a hopeful backup when the New England Patriots ultimately selected him.

In fairness to the 49ers, 30 other teams also passed on Brady multiple times, so the class of “what if?” questions with regards to the future Hall of Famer needs to be passed along everywhere else when looking back in hindsight.

Also in fairness, Brady wouldn’t have been automatic to turn around any single franchise out there. What’s often lost in the discussion of great players is the fact they need to go to situations where they can thrive.

Keep that in mind, as it’s something we’ll get to in a moment.

Brady would go on to become the greatest quarterback of all time, helping himself to seven Super Bowl rings, six of them within the Patriots dynasty of the 2000s and 2010s. Yet it’s anyone’s guess whether or not he would have enjoyed the same kind of success elsewhere.

Could it have been with Brady’s boyhood-favorite team, the 49ers? Maybe. Maybe not.

At least the Niners selected a quarterback two rounds earlier, Hofstra’s Giovanni Carmazzi, who never played a regular-season NFL game.