{"id":68632,"date":"2025-07-15T01:27:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T01:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68632"},"modified":"2025-07-15T01:27:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T01:27:04","slug":"a-new-espn-ranking-finally-puts-the-chiefs-patrick-mahomes-in-the-right-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68632","title":{"rendered":"A new ESPN ranking finally puts the Chiefs\u2019 Patrick Mahomes in the right spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday morning, ESPN\u2019s<\/em> Field Yates continued his yearly NFL positional rankings based on the voting of league insiders. This time, he focused on quarterbacks. While the Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 Patrick Mahomes has been taken down a peg (or two or four) in some of the rankings we have seen this offseason, the league\u2019s executives, coaches and scouts see it differently.<\/p>\n

\n

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Highest ranking:<\/strong> 1
\nLowest ranking:<\/strong> 4
\nAge:<\/strong> 29
\nLast year\u2019s ranking:<\/strong> 1<\/p>\n

Mahomes\u2019 grip on the top spot is loosening slightly. After dominating the voting with back-to-back No. 1 rankings in convincing fashion, Mahomes garnered around 60% of the first-place votes this year, which is still impressive but well short of last year, when he received all but one first-place vote.<\/p>\n

He has finished eighth in QBR the past two years; from 2018 through 2022, he finished first or second four times. Rarely does Mahomes look as frazzled as he did vs. Philadelphia in Super Bowl LIV.<\/p>\n

But context is key with these discussions, and Mahomes\u2019 modest-by-his-standards performance in 2024 (3,928 yards, 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions) requires a lot of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOL in decline, particularly at tackle, WR group completely cleaned out by injury, [Travis] Kelce not near the same player,\u201d a veteran NFL coordinator said about Mahomes\u2019 supporting cast. \u201cI thought he had more command of time\/score\/situation and better fundamentals from within the pocket than ever. He\u2019s a one-man army. And no NFL coach wants to deal with him. Complete dawg. No one like him. Maybe [Joe] Burrow, but Burrow isn\u2019t as dangerous as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahomes still leads the NFL in virtually every passing category \u2014 from passing yards to touchdowns and yards per attempt \u2014 since becoming the starter in 2018. No quarterback was more efficient on third down than Mahomes last season. He led the NFL in third-down QBR (90.4) with a league-high 53.1% of his passing attempts resulting in first downs.<\/p>\n

An AFC scout noted that Mahomes \u201cprobably doesn\u2019t have that same fear factor\u201d from opponents that he had a few years ago but also expects him to bounce back in 2025, with a healthier receiving corps and a rebuilt offensive line.<\/p>\n

Mahomes is squarely in his prime, but he must contend with three elite quarterbacks also in their late-20s arc who are gaining on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther guys played great,\u201d an NFC executive said, explaining why he voted Mahomes fourth. \u201cHe took a little step back based off the last few seasons. I don\u2019t expect it to last.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My take<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At last! A ranking that isn\u2019t based on volume stats (such as passing yards, touchdowns and interceptions), goes well beyond what can be seen in a box score and \u2014 doesn\u2019t mark down a top-tier competitor just to elevate a flavor-of-the-season player.<\/p>\n

I mean no disrespect to Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and others \u2014 <\/em>all of whom deserve to be (and are) listed highly in this ranking \u2014 but Mahomes is still The Man<\/em>. We know this because he led his team to consecutive Super Bowls with less-than-elite wideouts (and offensive tackles) at his disposal. The quote from the \u201cveteran NFL coordinator\u201d bears repeating:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI thought he had more command of time\/score\/situation and better fundamentals from within the pocket than ever. He\u2019s a one-man army.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Someday, Mahomes won\u2019t deserve that description. But this isn\u2019t that day. Just ask the guys who have to figure out a way to beat him.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m well aware: some of those guys figured out a way to do exactly that in Super Bowl LIX. But the next time, that method won\u2019t work \u2014 because Mahomes learns very well from his occasional defeats. The next time, they\u2019ll have to try something else.<\/p>\n

Good luck to them.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Poll<\/h3>\n

What do think of Mahomes\u2019 ranking?<\/h4>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to NFL executives, coaches and scouts, Kansas City\u2019s quarterback is still the man to beat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":68633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nA new ESPN ranking finally puts the Chiefs\u2019 Patrick Mahomes in the right spot - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68632\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A new ESPN ranking finally puts the Chiefs\u2019 Patrick Mahomes in the right spot - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to NFL executives, coaches and scouts, Kansas City\u2019s quarterback is still the man to beat.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68632\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T01:27:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/avtvip-76-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68632\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=68632\",\"name\":\"A new ESPN ranking finally puts the Chiefs\u2019 Patrick Mahomes in the right spot - 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