At the NFL’s spring meeting on Tuesday, all 32 team owners voted unanimously to pass a proposal that will permit NFL players to participate in flag football at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Among active players, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes may seem like the best choice to lead the national team as a passer, but there may be better fits for quarterback in flag football.
Flag football’s 12-person roster and five-on-five format varies widely from the standard format of gridiron football. The best player at a position in the NFL may not necessarily be the best fit for flag football. For example, future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski may have been able to bully his way into the end zone with five defenders hanging onto his back, but that’s a bit tougher to do when opposing players simply need to grab his flag rather than bring him down.
Patrick Mahomes’ best fit on Olympic team may not be at quarterback
The three-time Super Bowl champion may be the most reliable option among all active NFL quarterbacks, but the national flag football team could benefit from a quarterback who is a bit more dynamic.
So where does that leave Mahomes? In flag football, quarterbacks can only advance the ball across the line of scrimmage after handing it off to another player first. By 2028, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid would be 70 years old. If he’s retired by then, Mahomes’ best fit could be as a quarterbacks coach, where he’d be able to utilize all of the creative trick plays he learned from Reid to open up rushing opportunities for the league’s most dynamic quarterback.
Although Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has been suggested as an option, a player like Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson could provide just as much in the rushing game while also being able to thrive as a passer. While Mahomes has made magical plays outside of the pocket, he typically only flees the pocket in search of making a throw on a broken play. He has the ability to pick up rushing yards, but not nearly to the same extent as a dynamic quarterback like Jackson.
Regardless, Mahomes will be 32 years old and Jackson will be 31 years old by the time the Olympic Games begin. By then, it’s entirely possible that the best quarterback option is a player that nobody is even considering right now.