The Kansas City Chiefs have the best quarterback in the NFL in Patrick Mahomes. Where does he rank on the all-time list of Chiefs quarterbacks?
The 2019 Kansas City Chiefs were the irony of all ironies. For a franchise that only drafted a quarterback in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft three times in 54 seasons, they now stand atop the league in large part because of their first-round, homegrown signal caller.
Just two years in, Patrick Mahomes is the best player in the NFL and his career is just beginning. He’s got a long way to go, but with quarterbacks now playing into their late 30s and even 40s in some cases, Mahomes could also end up being the longest-tenured starting quarterback in team history. If that happens, that will be just one of a long list of franchise-altering accomplishments to his name.
With the offseason upon us, and no place to go, it seemed a fitting time to take a look back through the history of the Chiefs and compare Mahomes accomplishments to that of the greatest quarterbacks in franchise history. In my opinion, the following is a list of the top five quarterbacks to ever don the red and gold.
5. Trent Green
The Chiefs of the early ’00s would be a revelation from their past decade. The Chiefs teams of the 1990s operated in a system known to many as “Marty Ball” which focused heavily on running the ball and controlling the clock, while building a suffocating defense on the other side. They did this to great success and were a consistent postseason presence under Marty Schottenheimer.
With the departure of Schottenheimer and eventually Gunther Cunningham, a new era began in Kansas City with the hiring of Dick Vermeil. Trent Green, Tony Gonzalez, Priest Holmes, and a host of other offensive superstars would light the league on fire over a two-year stretch scarcely rivaled in the history of the NFL—even by the Chiefs teams of the last two seasons. The man at the helm of it all, and the subject of this spot on our list, was a true underdog.
An eighth round draft pick out of Indiana, Green didn’t play a snap in his first five seasons. After finally breaking out in his sixth season, he’d sign with the St. Louis Rams only to lose that starting job due to a gruesome knee injury. With future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner emerging from the shadows and leading the Rams to Super Bowl glory, Green would find his place backing up Warner the following season. His fall from grace saw him traded that offseason to the Chiefs for the 12th overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft.
In Kansas City, Green would be reunited with his former head coach Dick Vermeil and the rest is history. Over the next five seasons Green would complete 62 percent of his passes for 20,117 yards and 111 touchdowns. The team would struggle to maintain consistency, going 44-36 over that span, but that had more to do with the defense than the offense.
The Chiefs offensive units in 2002 and 2003 were two of the most dominant units in NFL history. It’s why Trent Green makes this list at number five. Unfortunately, it would be a long time before Chiefs Kingdom would see this type of offensive juggernaut again.
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