Arrowheadlines: ESPN’s Max Kellerman calls Patrick Mahomes “most important player in sports”

The latest

AFC West rookie grades: Denver upgraded both sides of the ball | NFL

B. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Speaks appeared in all 16 games and did a decent job as a rookie, but he was overshadowed by better teammates. He has room for growth. A similar tale existed for Nnadi, though his contributions don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet. O’Daniel contributed in spots and is better against three-receiver sets, due to his athleticism. Watts saw his season end early due to injury and was missed in a secondary that desperately needed help on the back end. Smith made his contributions in the return game, being voted to the Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team for his special teams efforts. McKenzie, a defensive tackle in college, transitioned to guard in his first season and is a developmental prospect.

ESPN’s Kellerman: Mahomes is the most important player in sports | 247 Sports

“Patrick Mahomes is one of those kinds of talents. You could already argue he’s the best player in football -- after all, he just won the MVP, and although technically not a rookie, it was his first year as a starter. Now with Mahomes it’s different than Mike Trout because the NFL is the country’s biggest league. By the way, you could argue it’s the most powerful sports entity in the world, or excuse me, entertainment entity... and the most important position by far, and the glamour position, is quarterback. Mahomes is the youngest and most talented and already the MVP on a team that almost went to the Super Bowl in his first year? I would say the answer is yes.”

All 32 NFL Twitter Accounts, Ranked for 2019 | Complex

7. Kansas City Chiefs

They celebrated victories with Super Smash Bros. GIFs. They shared beautiful video content like this time-lapse video of snow coming down and being cleared before the divisional game against Indy. They quoted Drake and put their biggest celebrity fans on display. They called out their opponents’ ineptitude. They put Colin Cowherd on blast for doubting their home crowd. Even their mini player-celebration packages were lit. Tough ending, but great season—both on the field and on Twitter.

The top 101 players from the 2018 NFL season (76-101) | Pro Football Focus

80. JUSTIN HOUSTON, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Top 101 appearances: 5

As part of one of the best pass-rushing trios in the NFL, Houston once again did damage to opposing passing attacks. He ended the year with a pressure rate of 13.3% and a win rate of 19.3%, which respectively ranked 24th and fifth among the league’s edge rushers.

Biggest Super Bowl windows: Chiefs, Colts lead the pack | NFL

1) Kansas City Chiefs

This is a quarterback- and offense-driven league, and Andy Reid’s team is set in both realms for a nice, long time, especially if the Chiefs can get Hill, whose deal runs out after 2019, locked up with an extension. Kelce is under contract through 2021, while Mahomes has two more years left on his rookie pact (three, if you include the fifth-year option in 2021).

13 way-too-early predictions about the 2019 NFL season | SB Nation

Team that will disappoint us like the 2018 Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs — Sarah Hardy

Why I picked the Chiefs: I think the Chiefs will make it back to the playoffs, no problem. Just don’t expect anything more. It’s the price Paul Rudd has to pay for never aging.

Around the league

Nick Foles informs Eagles he’ll void $20M option | NFL

Philadelphia informed the QB on Tuesday that they will pick up his option, Rapoport reported. Less than an hour later, Foles provided his rebuttal, informing the team he’ll pay $2 million back to void the contract and become a free agent at the start of the new league year, Rapoport reported.

Patriots Defense Got the Super Bowl Victory, but not the Super Bowl MVP | Sports Illustrated

According to the NFL, not a single MVP vote was cast for a defensive player. Edelman was not the unanimous winner, but received the overwhelming amount of votes from the panel of 16, made up of members of the Pro Football Writers Association of America, selected members of the electronic broadcast media and by fans interactively through NFL.com.

Falcons releasing Robert Alford after six seasons | NFL

Falcons cornerback Robert Alford is the first to go. Atlanta is releasing the 30-year-old defender, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported, per two sources informed of the move. Alford was due $8.5 million in 2019 and carried a cap number of $9.1 million, per Over The Cap. The move will save the Falcons $7.9 million in cap space.

Biggest Rule Changes the NFL Must Make This Offseason | Bleacher Report

Allow Coaches to Challenge Everything

Coaches will be more likely to keep at least one of their two challenges in their back pockets if they know they can potentially challenge a clutch pass-interference or face-mask call late in a game. It would make the game fairer and would make for a better overall product.

Saints’ Marcus Davenport says he’ll ‘come back better’ after surgery | ESPN

Specific details of the surgery -- or a timetable for his recovery -- were not immediately known. Davenport missed three games in November with a toe injury. His photo showed his right foot heavily wrapped.

In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride

Patrick Mahomes is the real-life version of the WWE character, “Mr. Perfect”

An Adidas advertisement with a great shot of Mahomes that read, “Congrats to the league MVP, Patrick Mahomes” appeared above No Other Pub in the Power and Light district on Tuesday afternoon. In my opinion, it is a perfect tribute to the real-life “Mr. Perfect” after a nearly-perfect season. Six months until August—who knows what else we’ll find out Mahomes excels at before then?

Proposal for Chiefs to play games in St. Louis resurfaces

It’s important to remember the context in which Councilman Lucas raised this idea: in the midst of the controversy surrounding the Chiefs game in Mexico City against the Los Angeles Rams that was moved to Los Angeles when the field at Estadio Azteca proved to be unsuitable for an NFL game. As you’ll recall, the Chiefs had to give up home game to play in London in 2015, and many Chiefs fans didn’t like that idea at all.

Tony Gonzalez won’t be going in the Hall Of Fame as a Chief or Falcon because that doesn’t exist

Currently, we don’t know under which team Tony Gonzalez will be listed in bold type; Gonzalez isn’t yet listed under the Chiefs or Falcons. This might be because the Hall hasn’t yet decided under which team Gonzalez will be listed in bold — or perhaps because Gonzalez simply hasn’t yet returned the call from the Hall’s IT department to tell them under which team he wants to be... uhh... boldfaced.

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