KC Chiefs best offensive players were left off PFF’s All-Pro team

The folks at Pro Football Focus put out their annual All-Pro team on Monday, the first day following the end of the 2021 regular season, and it’s alarming (relatively speaking, of course) at just how few members of the Kansas City Chiefs are on it.

The Chiefs entered the season as the favorites to win the Super Bowl and they remain the favorites to make the Super Bowl out of the AFC. Yet somehow their best players have been left off of a roster featuring the best performers in the National Football League. Go figure.

Look, we will be the first to admit that star quarterback Patrick Mahomes hasn’t put together his best year statistically. It makes sense why he’s not in the center of the MVP picture at this point. He’s had better seasons statistically, and other quarterbacks have better production overall this year. That much makes sense.

It also makes sense to potentially leave wide receiver Tyreek Hill on the outside looking in. This is a single roster, which means you have to incorporate both the AFC and the NFC, and that means only a couple of guys make it at each position. Cooper Kupp was flirting with records this year. Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams, and Ja’Marr Chase all had incredible seasons, so it’s hard to fault his exclusion as well—at least at receiver.

PFF’s All-Pro list missed out on the Chiefs’ best offensive players.

But here’s where we start getting into the weeds (and where things make so little sense). It begins with Hill’s being left off of the list entirely because PFF also included an offensive FLEX spot, almost like it’s a fantasy roster. And it’s here that they put Deebo Samuel and Cordarelle Patterson. Now, Samuel deserves a hat tip because he’s proven to be such a dynamic weapon with 1,400 yards for San Francisco, but Patterson over Hill is just outrageous. Patterson had 600+ receiving yards to go with 500+ receiving yards and some kick returns at a clip far, far below his career averages. That’s it.

Patterson was a solid pickup for the Falcons and deserves kudos there, but selecting him over Hill is just asinine and it only looks worse when you get to tight ends. Mark Andrews grabbed the top spot for the Ravens, which we can understand because he held the edge in receptions and yards over Travis Kelce. However, in their second spot at TE, they grabbed George Kittle of the 49ers who didn’t even eclipse 1,000 yards. While that number might be overly simplistic, the truth is that Kittle’s injury issues (which make him an inconsistent player) should have made this a no-brainer.

The good news here is that the All-Pro team at least got Creed Humphrey at center, which is an incredible honor for a rookie performer, and defensive tackle Chris Jones was selected as one of the best interior defenders behind Aaron Donald and Cam Heyward. Humphrey graded out as the best run-blocking center in the game, and Jones is an annual inclusion for his incredible ability to disrupt the passer no matter the opponent.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to appreciate the good when it’s so clear that the core players have been skipped over. Some of these are understandable but the fact that not a single one of the Chiefs’ offensive pillars made it feel weird. Two of the three are understandable in their arguments but all together, without Kelce especially, it feels like an egregious oversight.

It will be interesting to see how PFF’s metrics and decision-making compare with how the Associated Press will vote for the real All-Pro awards. Perhaps they’ll give credit to at least acknowledge the best tight end in the game who is still playing in his prime.