5 reasons Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in football

Patrick Mahomes is still getting better

There are a lot of people in and around the NFL who don’t want to hear this, but Patrick Mahomes has not peaked yet. We have to remember that he is very much still a kid – a 25-year-old who had less than 40 career starts under his belt.

Still, the proof is in the pudding. Not only did Mahomes lead his team back from huge deficits throughout the playoffs this past season, a feat he failed to accomplish in the 2018 AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots, but he was also better in nearly every other statistical category in 2019 as compared to 2018.

Perhaps most importantly, Mahomes dropped his interception rate by more than 50 percent, from 2.1% in 2018 to 1.0% in 2019. That is a large drop for a percentage that typically ranges between two and three total percentage points across the whole league. He also lowered his sack rate by a full percentage point, and while some of that is attributable to better offensive line play, most of it is due to Mahomes learning to use his legs better without tucking and running.

One might point to less yards, less touchdowns and less yards per completion as indicators that this is all fallacy – but if you watch enough football you know that winning football rarely relies on yards or completion distance to determine outcomes. Situationally and comparatively, Mahomes was a much better quarterback in his second season as a starter.

Mahomes is only getting better as he settles in to his career with the Chiefs, and that should terrify the rest of the league.