The 10 most underrated quarterbacks in NFL history

7. Drew Bledsoe

If Bledsoe hadn’t suffered a severe injury early in the 2001 season, who knows when an obscure 2000 sixth-round pick out of Michigan named Tom Brady would have gotten an opportunity. Bledsoe was traded to the Buffalo Bills the following offseason, and eventually reunited with Bill Parcells in Dallas with the Cowboys. In 2006, Bledsoe was “Wally Pipped” again–by Tony Romo–and he retired after that season.

The Patriots drafted Bledsoe No. 1 overall in 1993 out of Washington State. In his second season he led the league in completions (400), attempts (691) and passing yards (4,555), as well as interceptions (27). He led the league in attempts in 1995 (636) and 1996 (626) too, letting it fly at a level that would stand up among the leaders in that category today. He led the league in completions again in 1996 (373). In 2002 with the Bills, he topped 600 pass attempts one last time (610).

Bledsoe’s 44,611 career passing yards sits 16th all-time. He helped lay the groundwork for what would become the NFL’s modern dynasty, making the Patriots relevant after a really dismal stretch of years before his arrival. But his career, as with many others on this list, has an unfulfilled, incomplete feel through no fault of his own.