KC Chiefs: Ranking every first-round pick since 2000
By Matt Conner
1. Patrick Mahomes
What more can say about the NFL’s favorite son?
Patrick Mahomes has been a model citizen since he entered the league, loaded with an everyman demeanor and superhuman talent. He’s truly a generational player who has elevated the Chiefs franchise to levels never known before and his presence at the game’s most important position means that Kansas City will be Super Bowl contenders for as long as Mahomes is playing.
Last year, the Chiefs rewarded him with the single biggest contract in American team sports for being such a transformative player for the franchise. Mahomes has won a regular season MVP and a Super Bowl MVP in his first three seasons as a starer and seems intent on setting any and all records in his path. He even recently seemed to challenge Tom Brady to wait and see on how things will turn out by the end of his career.
If anything, a bit more ink should be spilled giving credit to the Chiefs front office and coaching staff, including former GM John Dorsey, for threading the needle to know when and where to trade up exactly to get Mahomes at No. 10 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. Mitchell Trubisky was taken early by the Chicago Bears, and the Houston Texans grabbed Deshaun Watson after Mahomes was taken. Somehow the Chiefs convinced the Buffalo Bills to part with their selection for an extra first and third and claimed the game’s best player in the process. A genius move from all sides.