He’s coming off of a season where he had more pass attempts, completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns than any other quarterback in the game. So, you would think Bucs quarterback Tom Brady would be heralded around the NFL as one of the most elite passers even at his advanced age of 45.

However, a recent article by the Athletic’s Mike Sando may have Brady reciting the classic Rodney Dangerfield line “No respect, I get no respect at all!”

Sando polled 50 people within NFL circles. These included coaches, executives, evaluators, and analytics experts. Through this poll Sando was able to create a tiering of NFL quarterbacks. Brady makes the tier one category, ranking third overall. So why the claim of “No respect”? Despite his league-leading stats, the narrative around his ranking certainly had some questioning Brady’s inclusion in the top tier.

Two of the quotes Sando provided showed those within the league think that the Bucs quarterback may be slipping.

What Some Said About Brady

“The playoff games were pretty good, but there were spells within those games where you go, ‘Ooooh,'” an evaluator said. “The Rams game, both games against New Orleans–certain teams know how to play him well, and he is not simply dicing up guys as much as you would think. He is still talented, but I think he has to have a full package to continue to sustain success.”

“The things that make him great aren’t going to age poorly–his command of everything, his knowledge and vision,” a defensive coach said. “But I do think there’s a wider arsenal of defenses available that are more effective against him. If you are just straight pressuring him, he’s going to murder you, and if you are just straight in coverages, he is going to murder you. We got him on some simulated pressures, which I think people are figuring out.”

Overall, eight of the 50 people polled placed Brady in tier two. Sando differentiates the tier two from tier one mainly through consistency. Tier one quarterbacks have no real holes in their game and can elevate their team’s week-in and week-out. Whereas tier 2 quarterbacks can elevate their team’s sometimes but have a hole or two in their games.

What Are They Thinking?

I personally take issue with the narrative that seems to be developing here. As Sando notes in the article for context, Brady tied a career high with five game-winning drives for the Bucs last year. That shows he can still elevate during the game’s most critical moments.

Additionally, as Sando points out Brady logged the second highest QBR in the league last year, behind only Aaron Rodgers. I’ll go one step further and point out that Brady had the second highest PFF grade among starting quarterbacks, narrowly getting edged out by Joe Burrow (91.8 to 91.7).

Maybe people in the league are just experiencing Brady fatigue. He has been dominant for well over a decade at this point. But to assert that he isn’t still playing among the most elite players at his position is just silly. Last year he had arguably two, maybe three poor games including the playoffs. Compare that to some of the other top signal-callers and you will find similar consistency if not worse.

Patrick Mahomes was “figured out” by the league with two-high shells in at least five poor games. Josh Allen had about four. Other quarterbacks in the top tier who posted similar number of poor games are Joe Burrow (two), Justin Herbert (three), and Aaron Rodgers (two).

Did They Do Any Research?

Now I must provide some context to these comments. They were provided largely by people with a personal bias. The bias isn’t naturally an anti-Brady bias. It is a bias to pre-conceived notions. In reading Sando’s piece, it becomes evident that the majority of these NFL “insiders” did not bother to fact-check their own anecdotal opinions. If they had, you might have seen those eight “tier two” votes for Brady changed to “tier one”.

You might have also seen less head-scratching comments like those made about Lamar Jackson. What was clear from the feedback given is that NFL talent evaluators are still far from efficient at understanding NFL talent. Fortunately for Tampa Bay fans, it seems like Bucs general manager Jason Licht is.