The Best Sixth Round Ever?

There's an article in Saturday's New York Times concerning Tom Brady, who, as we well know, was pick #199 in the 2000 draft, and was the 7th quarterback taken. Which obviously leads to the question: who were the other humps taken before him? Let's examine the QBs taken that draft:

#18: Chad Pennington, NY Jets. You can't say this was a bad pick, as he's had a decent career with Gang Green, it just pales in comparison to what came later.

#65: Giovanni Carmazzi, San Fran. Oops. Lesson learned: only draft Hofstra WR's.

#75: Chris Redman, Baltimore Ravens. This pick was so similar to Browning Nagle (getting thumped, left) from the outset, it's pretty funny.

#163: Tee Martin, Pittsburgh Steelers. The Troy Smith of 2000.

#168: Marc Bulger, New Orleans Saints. This was a tremendous pick obviously, though he never took a snap for the team that drafted him. Great job giving him away for a box of donuts, 'Aints.

#183: Spergeon Wynn, Cleveland Browns. The only QB that could have given Tim Couch job security.

#199: Tom Brady, New England Patriots. No explanation necessary.

After Brady: Tom Husak (Washington); JaJuan Seider (San Diego); Tim Rattay (San Fran); Jarious Jackson (Denver); Joe Not Joey Hamilton (Tampa Bay). Outside of Rattay, I'm not sure if there was a single snap taken by any of these guys in the NFL, though Jackson's a fricking stud for British Columbia in the Canadian Football League.

Suffice to say this was a decent QB class: three bonafide starters, including one Hall of Famer and one Pro Bowler in the mix. But what's more amazing is to just look at that sixth round in general, it's almost as if the entire league slept through the middle portion of the draft and woke up after a pizza break Sunday afternoon. Let's look at some of the highlights from that round:

• Mark Bulger & Tom Brady---See above.

• Adaleius Thomas---This guy alone would be a great find in this round, let alone with the two big QB's.

• Neil Rackers---A Pro Bowl kicker, and a machine from inside 40 yards, whatever the hell that's worth.

• Mike Anderson---A useful-to-good RB for Denver until Shanahan gave up on him for no reason whatsoever. Seriously, what the hell goes on in the RB section of that locker room? Do you just walk in knowing you have a half-life of 8 games?
  

• Robaire Smith---A real nice defensive player that did a ton for Tennessee until leaving this year.

• Dhani Jones---In addition to being a fair linebacker, he founded a company that sells bow ties. Awesome.

My somewhat cursory investigation into the post-1996 drafts has shown NO sixth rounds rivals this one. Only one other has more than 2 Pro Bowlers, and that one includes David Tyree, who sucks. Pretty amazing at the end of the day. Lesson---never stop paying attention, GM's, and scout those late rounds out well.