The Kansas City Chiefs landed 7 total players on the top 101 football players in 2018 from Pro Football Focus, including their star QB at No. 3.
The Kansas City Chiefs were very, very well represented on the 2018 edition of Pro Football Focus’s Top 101 players of the year, and it begins near the very top of the list at No. 3 where the Chiefs starting quarterback is the first QB chosen in Patrick Mahomes.
While Mahomes went from an unranked player last year to No. 3 overall, it’s still not quite as big of a leap as some might have thought. After all, Mahomes is only 23-years-old and just set multiple team and NFL passing records in an MVP season. The fact that Pro Football Focus still ranked him behind both Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald and Houston Texans wide receiver Deandre Hopkins is a bit, especially that No. 2 role. As good as Hopkins is, there’s not a team in the NFL who would think about taking him (or anyone) over Mahomes.
Still the Chiefs have to feel good overall about their talent level beginning with Mahomes at No. 3. Let’s take a look at the other six Chiefs who made the list and where they landed.
- Chris Jones – No. 15 overall – His second appearance on the Top 101 placed him higher than ever as PFF gave him an overall grade of 91.5. They also lauded his ability to get after the quarterback, noting he was second behind Donald and Fletcher Cox in total QB pressures from a defensive lineman.
- Travis Kelce – No. 23 overall – The Chiefs tight end came in just eight spots lower than Jones to make his third Top 101 appearance. He had an overall grade of 88.6.
- Tyreek Hill – No. 25 overall – This makes four Chiefs in the top 25, an incredible feat considering there are 32 franchises in the NFL. This is Hill’s third appearance in three years.
- Mitchell Schwartz – No. 35 overall – The Chiefs offensive line finally got some attention this year as Schwartz turned heads for more than just his durability in 2018. It’s Schwartz’s second appearance on PFF’s annual list.
- Dee Ford – No. 37 overall – The Chiefs pass rusher is on the verge of potential free agency, and it will be interesting to see how the team handles a player who just had 77 total quarterback pressures.
- Justin Houston – No. 80 overall – The veteran pass rusher once again made PFF’s list for the fifth time in his career as his presence and ability help free up Jones and Ford to enjoy banner seasons.
In the future, it will be interesting to see if any other Chiefs can join this list. Anthony Sherman and Eric Fisher both made the Pro Bowl so perhaps they were close on the outside looking in here. Eric Berry, when healthy, is always a lock for this sort of list as well. Of course, if Sammy Watkins had stayed healthy through 16 games, Mahomes’s presence might also catapult him into consideration.