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The football analytics site Pro Football Focus released its ranking of the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks on Tuesday. Written by PFF’s Bruce Gradkowski, the list has a very familiar name at the top.
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
The 25-year-old prodigy is PFF’s highest-graded quarterback over the past three seasons. With an MVP award and a Super Bowl ring already in hand, Mahomes is already rewriting the record books. And head coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs have done a phenomenal job this offseason of trying to shore up an offensive line that held the team back in Super Bowl 55.
Mahomes tends to get sloppy at times while drifting back in the pocket, putting pressure on his tackles, so the offensive line isn’t the only culprit. The signal-caller finished second in big-time throws (50) but also ended the year in the top three in turnover-worthy plays (23). Mahomes features playmaking ability not only from the pocket but also when extending plays with his arm and legs. That makes him the biggest threat in the NFL.
Mahomes is followed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady (2), Green Bay Packers quarterback (and current NFL MVP) Aaron Rodgers (3), the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson (4), Houston Texans starter Deshaun Watson (5), the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen (6), Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (7), the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson (8), Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons (9) and Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns (10).
Earlier on Tuesday, we brought you the latest ESPN power rankings poll at the end of the offseason’s primary player acquisition period. While the focus there was Kansas City’s rebuild of its offensive line, here we see the main reason for the team’s success: the league’s top quarterback.
It’s still a team sport — the players surrounding Mahomes and the rest of these quarterbacks do matter — but in the modern NFL, no player has a greater impact on a team’s success than its quarterback. And arguments about “the greatest of all time” aside, the Chiefs still have the best one.