Getty Quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs looks to pass during the first half of the NFL preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.
NFL Network finished revealing their top 100 players of 2021 — as voted by the players — on Saturday, August 28, finalizing the rankings by showing numbers 10-1. Coming in at No. 1 was none other than Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was one of four quarterbacks — but the highest-ranked — in the top 10, along with Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen (10), Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady (7), and Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers (3). This is the first time Mahomes has been ranked No. 1 in the rankings.
Over the course of the past three weeks when the NFL Top 100 episodes were premiering, the league has been tweeting out ballots from random, unnamed players in the league to give fans an idea of how some players voted. One ballot, in particular, had a wild and semi-disrespectful take on Mahomes, which we thought was worth sharing here.
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Patrick…Holmes?
One of the ballots tweeted out by the NFL on August 27 showed a top-20 ranking by an NFL player in which Mahomes was ranked No. 2 — behind Brady — and also had Mahomes named on the ballot as “Patrick Holmes.”
Two more player ballots comin’ at ya!
What’s right and what’s wrong? 👀
It’s a bit of a hot take to say that Brady is better than Mahomes, purely based on their abilities as quarterbacks at this point in their respective careers. But the wildest part of the ballot is for sure not coming close to spelling Mahomes’ name right.
The two other names that were misspelled on the ballot, but were understandably incorrect, were Packers wide receiver Davante Adams (spelled Devante) and Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (spelled Stephon).
Mahomes’ 2020 Campaign in Review
Mahomes’ 2020 regular-season campaign wasn’t the best of his career, but statistically, it was still one of the best we’ve seen at the quarterback position in NFL history. That just shows how darn good he is. In 15 regular-season games, Mahomes completed 390-of-588 passes attempted — a 66.3% completion percentage — for 38 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also ran in an additional two scores. He was PFF’s fourth-highest graded quarterback — with a 91.8 offensive grade — behind Houston Texans’ Deshaun Watson (92.5), Brady (93.3), and Rodgers (95.1), who was named the 2020 league MVP.
2021 Prediction for Mahomes
Despite having one of the best touchdown-to-interception ratios the league has ever seen in 2020, Mahomes could be in store for an even better season in 2021.
After getting torched in Super Bowl LV to the Buccaneers, Kansas City brought in five new starters along their offensive line this season to keep Mahomes upright in the pocket. They signed All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney to a five-year, $80 million deal during free agency. Then they traded for Baltimore Ravens left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.. Fast forward to now, and the Chiefs have three rookies filling up the remainder of their starting offensive line — second-round pick Creed Humphrey at center, sixth-round pick Trey Smith at right guard, and 2020 rookie opt-out Lucas Niang at right tackle.
Giving Mahomes a stable offensive line to throw behind will give him more time to scan the field, make better decisions, and ultimately be more productive on the field. That means you should get your popcorn ready because Kansas City’s star quarterback is about to put on a season-long show once again, but this time it may be his greatest act yet.