NFL power rankings: Kansas City Chiefs land at No. 9
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs are still a top 10 NFL team in the latest power rankings over at Bleacher Report, thanks to Patrick Mahomes.
It’s a notion we’ve said and repeated several times here at Arrowhead Addict this offseason—that the only real thing that matters this year is the move to Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Every other move, signing, draft pick or rumor pales in comparison to the switch from Alex Smith to Mahomes. That’s how much quarterback means to a team.
We’re not the only ones who believe this to be true about the Kansas City Chiefs. The latest NFL power rankings are out from Bleacher Report with a post-draft edition, and they have Andy Reid’s team ranked at No. 9 overall, despite the fact that the entire division made seismic shifts and got noticeably better.
While power rankings are silly this time of year, it does give insiders within Chiefs Kingdom a chance to see what an outsider looking at the bigger picture believes to be true about your favorite team. Will the Chiefs be taken seriously in an offseason where the Chargers defense looks to be tops in the NFL, when the Raiders have been Gruden’d (for better or worse) and the Denver Broncos have reloaded with some serious talent upgrades in place (re: Bradley Chubb). Chris Simms writes:
"If the defense can take even a small step forward, the Chiefs will be extremely dangerous. With Mahomes at the helm, the offense is going to be one of the most explosive in football."
What’s interesting is that the AFC West as a whole is definitely lacking respect these days, at least compared to what the league thought of them one year ago. The Raiders are No. 24 and the Broncos are No. 26 despite adding Chubb and Case Keenum at quarterback. The Chargers are still three back of the Chiefs, which means K.C. is the only Top 10 team in the division, per Simms.
At the very least, this tells us that the Chiefs maintain a respectful roster with Andy Reid as coach, a high-octane offense all around and a potential star at quarterback for the first time in years.