5 players who Kansas City Chiefs need to be great in 2019

1. QB Patrick Mahomes

In the “well, duh” portion of this list, its clear that the Kansas City Chiefs need Patrick Mahomes to be great in order to win in 2019. Mahomes was the engine that drove the Chiefs’ offense a year ago, completing 66% of his passes for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns.

That year not only earned Mahomes the league’s MVP award, but it helped the Chiefs go 12-4 during the regular season and earn home field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs. The Chiefs ended up losing to New England in the AFC Championship game, but that was no fault of Mahomes, who threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns in the contest.

There is no doubt that Mahomes was the best quarterback in football last year, but he does have some unique challenges this season. Kareem Hunt is gone and Tyreek Hill may be suspended for a significant portion of the year, if not cut outright, so Mahomes will be losing two huge weapons from his arsenal.

The league also has a year of tape on Mahomes to try and adapt to his game, so how he adjusts to the adjustments will also say a lot about the Chiefs’ chances in 2019. Kansas City will go as far as Mahomes can take them, and if he has a bit of a sophomore slump it could impact their playoff chances.

Mahomes is also going to be asked to help make some of the players around him better since his supporting cast is inevitably going to be weaker than it was a year ago. Elevating others to play better is the hallmark of an elite quarterback, and the Chiefs will be asking that out of Mahomes in 2019.