NFL executives place Patrick Mahomes next to last among starting quarterbacks

An ESPN poll of 50 NFL coaches and executives have ranked every NFL starting quarterback and Patrick Mahomes came in next to last on the list.

According to a recent poll of 50 anonymous NFL sources—a group that includes general managers, scouts, head coaches, quarterback coaches and more—conducted by ESPN, Patrick Mahomes is the second worst starting quarterback option heading into the 2018 season.

It’s important to stop here without going any farther to allow them to explain that rookies or players without any real game tape tend to fare much worse in this experiment than those with experience. It is, after all, hard for anyone to make a judgement call without buying into the hype. Not a single rookie is listed in these rankings, as even top-ranked options like Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold are ignored for the sake of Tyrod Taylor and Josh McCown respectively.

That makes Mahomes the lone question mark on the list, the lone unknown variable to contend with. It turns out that very few GMs or head coaches actually feel he will be okay in 2018. One GM said that Alex Smith would have helped them win more games in the interim. Clearly everyone also believes that guys like McCown, Taylor, Ryan Tannehill, Mitchell Trubisky and even Sam Bradford are all guys they would rather at quarterback in 2018 than Mahomes. Check out this negative nancy quote by a general manager:

"More from Arrowhead AddictFormer Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las VegasChiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract newsChiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in GermanyPodcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battlesKC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching accelerator“Everybody is making him out to be the next Roger Staubach,” another GM said. “Let’s wait and see. The guy has played one game and it was a meaningless game. Quarterback is one position where it is a lot easier to get worse than it is to get better.”"

There is, to his credit, some real truth there. We, as Chiefs Kingdom, do need to be wary of Mahomes overhype. Putting that sort of pressure on a young man just now making the transition to starter can be a dangerous thing. In addition, he replaces a man in  Alex Smith who was well-versed in the playbook, had developed five years of trust with his receivers and made the playoffs four out of five seasons. Simply put, in some ways, it’s easy to understand the doubts for some.

Still his single win at season’s end was called meaningless and thrown away as any real evidence, despite the fact that Mahomes won against Denver’s starters while surrounded by his own back-ups. He was also playing on the road at a division rival in a preview game that he knew would either set him up with some momentum or raise questions about his readiness. His confidence and swagger, his ability and leadership, it all makes for a potential franchise quarterback.

We’ll all just have to remember that one year when over four dozen NFL execs or coaches wanted anyone else besides Mahomes as their starter (besides A.J. McCarron.