When we talk about the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, most of their stories took years, sometimes decades, to fully develop. Patrick Mahomes has been different. His rise from a talented and unconventional quarterback at Texas Tech to one of the three greatest quarterbacks I have ever seen has happened at a speed that is almost impossible to comprehend.
Drafted in 2017 with the 10th overall pick after the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to get him, Mahomes entered the NFL as one of the most fascinating prospects in the draft. Kansas City already had Alex Smith, a proven veteran quarterback who had consistently led the Chiefs to winning seasons. Smith was more than serviceable, and there was no immediate desperation at quarterback. Yet Andy Reid and the Chiefs saw something different in Mahomes. They saw the arm talent, creativity and a quarterback who could make throws most players would never even attempt. Kansas City believed it had found its quarterback of the future, so it went and got him.
The Texas Tech Gunslinger
Long before Mahomes was lifting Lombardi Trophies in Kansas City, he was putting up ridiculous numbers at Texas Tech. Mahomes didn’t immediately arrive on campus as a superstar. As a freshman in 2014, he initially played behind Davis Webb before eventually receiving his opportunity. Once Mahomes got onto the field, however, the talent became increasingly difficult to ignore.
By his sophomore season, Mahomes had taken control of the offense and threw for 4,653 yards and 36 touchdowns. Then came his junior season. Mahomes threw for 5,052 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2016, completing nearly 66 percent of his passes. Over his three year college career, he accumulated 11,252 passing yards and 93 passing touchdowns while also adding 22 rushing touchdowns.
But there was one game that perfectly summarized the madness of college Patrick Mahomes. On October 22, 2016, Texas Tech faced Oklahoma and quarterback Baker Mayfield. What followed looked more like a video game than a college football game. Mahomes attempted an unbelievable 88 passes, completing 52 of them for 734 passing yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for another 85 yards and two touchdowns. That gave Mahomes 819 total yards and seven touchdowns in one game, and somehow Texas Tech still lost 66 to 59.
It was one of the wildest quarterback performances college football had ever seen. Mahomes’ 734 passing yards tied the NCAA single game record, but the game also illustrated why evaluating him entering the NFL wasn’t simple. The talent was outrageous and the production was outrageous, but the question remained whether that unconventional style could work in the NFL.
Kansas City Takes the Gamble
The Chiefs decided the answer was yes. Kansas City traded up in the 2017 NFL Draft and selected Mahomes with the 10th overall pick. Rather than immediately handing him the franchise, though, they put him in perhaps the perfect situation for a young quarterback.
Mahomes spent almost his entire rookie season learning behind Alex Smith. Smith deserves credit in the Mahomes story. He was a veteran, a leader and a true professional who helped a young quarterback learn how to operate at the NFL level. Mahomes could watch how Smith prepared, how he studied defenses and how he handled the responsibilities that came with being the starting quarterback of an NFL franchise. Mahomes had all the natural talent in the world, but he didn’t have to learn everything while getting hit by NFL defensive linemen every Sunday. He was given time to develop.
Then, in the final game of the 2017 regular season, Kansas City finally let us see what it had been developing. Mahomes made his first NFL start against the Denver Broncos, completing 22 of 35 passes for 284 yards and helping Kansas City win 27 to 24. It was only one game, but we had seen enough to wonder what would happen when Kansas City finally gave him the keys.
The Explosion
Alex Smith was traded after the season, and in 2018 the Kansas City Chiefs officially became Patrick Mahomes’ team. What happened next remains difficult to believe. In his first full season as an NFL starter, Mahomes threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns, becoming only the second quarterback in NFL history at the time to throw for at least 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in the same season.
Mahomes won NFL MVP at only 23 years old. Think about how ridiculous that is. Most young quarterbacks spend their first full season learning how to survive in the NFL. Mahomes spent his becoming the best player in football. Kansas City reached the AFC Championship Game and came painfully close to reaching the Super Bowl before losing to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in overtime. Mahomes had arrived, but winning MVP wasn’t going to be enough.
The First Championship
The following season brought adversity. Mahomes dealt with injuries, including a dislocated kneecap that briefly threatened Kansas City’s season. He returned, the Chiefs entered the playoffs, and Mahomes began building the postseason reputation that would eventually define him.
Kansas City fell behind Houston 24 to 0 in the divisional round. For most teams, the season would have been finished. For Mahomes, it was apparently just an inconvenience. The Chiefs stormed back and won 51 to 31 before defeating Tennessee in the AFC Championship Game and sending Kansas City to its first Super Bowl in 50 years.
Even there, Mahomes had to do it the difficult way. Kansas City trailed the San Francisco 49ers 20 to 10 in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV. With the championship slipping away, Mahomes and the Chiefs responded with 21 unanswered points to win 31 to 20. Mahomes was a Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP at only 24 years old. Most quarterbacks would consider an NFL MVP, Super Bowl championship and Super Bowl MVP a successful career. Mahomes was just getting started.
Becoming the Standard
Kansas City returned to the Super Bowl the following season but ran into Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It remains one of the major losses on Mahomes’ résumé, but what happened afterward is what separates great quarterbacks from legends. Mahomes kept coming back.
Year after year, Kansas City became the team the rest of the AFC had to go through. The personnel changed. Tyreek Hill eventually left. Defenses adjusted. Coordinators studied every tendency they could find. Mahomes adapted. The spectacular throws never disappeared, but he became more patient. When defenses tried taking away the deep ball, he learned to attack underneath. When games became ugly, he learned how to win ugly.
Then came 2022. Mahomes produced another monster season, throwing for 5,250 yards and 41 touchdowns and winning his second NFL MVP. Kansas City returned to the Super Bowl, this time against the Philadelphia Eagles. Mahomes was playing on an injured ankle, but with Kansas City trailing at halftime, he once again delivered when it mattered most. The Chiefs won 38 to 35, giving Mahomes his second championship and second Super Bowl MVP.
Dynasty
Then he did it again. The 2023 Chiefs weren’t the offensive machine we had become accustomed to watching. Their receivers struggled, the offense was inconsistent and Kansas City had to win differently. It didn’t matter. Mahomes took them back to the Super Bowl, where the San Francisco 49ers were waiting for him again.
This time the game went to overtime. San Francisco kicked a field goal on the opening possession, meaning Mahomes needed to respond or Kansas City’s season was over. Of course he responded. Mahomes led the Chiefs down the field and eventually found Mecole Hardman for the championship winning touchdown. Kansas City had won back to back Super Bowls, and Mahomes had his third championship and third Super Bowl MVP.
At that point there was no longer any debate about whether we were watching a Hall of Fame quarterback. The conversation had become something much bigger. How high could Patrick Mahomes climb?
The Chase for History
Mahomes and Kansas City returned to the Super Bowl again the following season with an opportunity to accomplish something no team had ever done by winning three consecutive Super Bowls. They fell short against Philadelphia, ending their chance at making NFL history.
But one loss cannot erase what Mahomes had accomplished to even put Kansas City in that position. Within a remarkably short period, he had transformed the Chiefs from a consistent playoff team into the defining NFL dynasty of his generation.
That is why Patrick Mahomes sits at #3 on my list of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. The statistics are incredible. The championships are incredible. The individual awards are incredible. But what separates Mahomes is the speed at which all of it happened.
We watched a quarterback sit behind Alex Smith as a rookie. One year later, he was NFL MVP. The next year, he was a Super Bowl champion. Before reaching his 30s, Mahomes had already built a résumé that could stand alongside quarterbacks who played for nearly two decades.
His style has also changed what we expect from the position. The sidearm throws, no look passes, ridiculous escapes, throws across his body and deep shots from seemingly impossible platforms have become so common that we almost take them for granted. But Mahomes isn’t great simply because he can make spectacular throws. He is great because when Kansas City absolutely needs a play, he has repeatedly found a way to make one.
Third and long, fourth quarter, overtime, playoffs or the Super Bowl, it seemingly doesn’t matter. Mahomes has delivered in virtually every situation football can throw at a quarterback.
There are only two quarterbacks I can currently put ahead of him, and unlike almost every other player near the top of an all time list, Patrick Mahomes’ story isn’t finished. Joe Montana’s résumé is complete. Tom Brady’s résumé is complete. Mahomes is still chasing both.
Whether he eventually catches them remains to be seen. But considering everything Patrick Mahomes has already accomplished, would anyone really be surprised if one day he did?
At #3, Patrick Mahomes. A rise we have simply never seen before.
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