You’ll never guess who’ll lead the league in passing alongside Patrick Mahomes
By John Buhler
Patrick Mahomes has interesting competition to lead the NFL in passing.
Raise your hand if you could have sworn Patrick Mahomes led the league in passing before.
While he did lead the FBS in passing during his final season at Texas Tech in 2016, Mahomes has yet to lead the NFL in passing in either of his first two seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs starter.
Despite throwing for over 5,000 yards in his 2018 NFL MVP season, Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers beat him out. Even though Mahomes missed a few regular-season games last years, he still eclipsed the 4,000-yard threshold for the second straight season. Jameis Winston formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took home the top honor in his epic 30-for-30 season.
Though he hasn’t done it yet, it should come as a surprise Mahomes is the favorite to lead the NFL in passing in the upcoming 2020 season. According to Oddschecker, Mahomes is projected to throw for 4,500.5 yards this fall. While that seems like a fair number, he does have a co-favorite to lead the league in passing that may shock you: 2016 NFL MVP Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons.
So Patrick Mahomes or Matt Ryan will lead the NFL in passing in 2020?
Oddschecker has six more quarterbacks breaking the 4,000-yard threshold: Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams (4,325.5), Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4,300.5), Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys (4,275.5), Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions (4,100.5), Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans (4,050.5) and Philip Rivers of the Indianapolis Colts (4,000.5).
Oddschecker spokesperson Pete Watt says “It’s clear that the books have looked at the Falcons addition of Todd Gurley and his ability to catch passes out of the backfield, as a boost to Matt Ryan’s hopes this year.”
“In addition, many experts are forecasting a Chris Godwin-style rise for Calvin Ridley who – alongside Julio Jones – could give the Falcons one of the most dynamic offenses in the league.”
Ryan has thrown for 51,186 yards in his illustrious 12-year NFL career out of Boston College. The four-time Pro Bowler and 2016 First-Team All-Pro ranks 10th all time in passing yardage in league history. On sheer numbers alone, Ryan would have gotten into Canton even if he didn’t have an MVP season and nearly win Atlanta its first Super Bowl back in 2016.
Because he missed his first start since 2009 due to injury last year, Ryan came up 34 yards short of breaking the 4,500-yard threshold for the seventh time in his career. For the last nine seasons, Ryan has made at least 15 starts, completed 61.3 percent of his passes for a 4,095 yards and 20 touchdowns. Though he’s never eclipsed 5,000, it’s odd he’s never led the league in passing either.
So with Calvin Ridley expected to push for Pro Bowl honors as a third-year player, Todd Gurley coming over from the Rams in free agency and Hayden Hurst offsetting Austin Hooper’s departure to the Cleveland Browns, it really shouldn’t be as shocking to see Ryan right up there with Mahomes as the co-favorite to lead the league in passing. Will either of them do it, though?
Mahomes and Ryan have as good of chance as anyone to lead the NFL in passing in 2020.