How does Patrick Mahomes compare to Hall of Famer QBs so far?

For fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, the past six seasons have been like a fairytale. That fairytale actually started seven years ago when the Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes. The success the team has had since is a credit to the entire organization. It takes the entire roster, the coaching staff, and the front office to win Super Bowls. That said, Patrick Mahomes is the central character of that fairytale.

Mahomes has been in the NFL for seven seasons and a starter for six. In that time the Chiefs have won three Super Bowls and have been to four. Mahomes has been the league MVP twice, a Pro Bowler in all six seasons as a starter, and if I listed all the "fastest quarterback to..." records he has set it would take the rest of this piece.

You may have heard people say things like "He's off to the best start to an NFL career that we've ever seen" or "He's on pace to be the greatest of all time", but how do his numbers and accomplishments actually stack up to the best quarterbacks in NFL history at this stage in their career? Let's start by taking a look at what Patrick Mahomes has done so far.

Looking at Patrick Mahomes numbers so far

• 7 seasons
• 6 seasons as a starter
• 96 games started
• 2,386/3,590 - 66.5% completions
• 28,424 passing yards
• 296.1 passing yards per game
• 7.9 yards per attempt
• 219 passing touchdowns
• 63 interceptions
• 1,936 yards rushing
• 5.2 yards per carry
• 12 rushing touchdowns
• 2 MVPs
• 2 First Team All-Pro selections
• 6 Pro Bowl selections
• 4 Super Bowl appearances
• 3 Super Bowl wins

It's a truly impressive resume. So now let's put those numbers side by side with seven of the most successful quarterbacks in NFL history. Those seven being Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, and John Elway. For each of these quarterbacks I will post their same numbers over their first seven seasons and will repost Mahomes' number in parenthesis next to them for direct comparison. Let's start with John Elway.

Comparing John Elway vs Patrick Mahomes

In one less season as a starter (two less total starts) Patrick Mahomes has swept John Elway across the board. His numbers simply don't hold up, but I wanted to include him anyway just to show Mahomes' dominance over him.

Comparing Joe Montana vs Patrick Mahomes

At this point in Joe Montana's career he had already cemented his status as a clutch performer in and out of the playoffs. He already had two Super Bowl wins, but his statistics and individual accolades simply don't hold up next to Patrick Mahomes.

Comparing Brett Favre vs Patrick Mahomes

Brett Favre had an amazing start to his career. He appeared in two Super Bowls and won one, while putting up fantastic stats for his day, but Mahomes numbers surpass his across the board. The only place where Favre beats Mahomes head to head is in having one more MVP and 1st team All Pro season.

Comparing Aaron Rodgers vs Patrick Mahomes

Rodgers is the only quarterback on this list with significantly fewer starts over his first seven seasons. That didn't stop Rodgers from still getting a Super Bowl win, as well as a MVP and 1st team All Pro selection. While his totals fall well short of Mahomes, his per game passing yards and yards per attempt are close to Mahomes. If you push out to Rodgers first 9 seasons so that he has six seasons as a starter and is within two starts of Mahomes, his numbers still fall short of him, but they are closer than many of the others on this list.

Comparing Dan Marino vs Patrick Mahomes

I actually believe that Dan Marino has one of the only early season resumes that is close to as impressive as Patrick Mahomes. While he had five more starts, the fact that his passing yards and touchdowns are that close to Mahomes while playing in an era where the passing game was not near as advanced as it is today is impressive. Mahomes obviously has the Super Bowl wins (and about half the interceptions) that tip the scale to his favor, but in terms of stats alone, the era adjustment makes Marino's number just as, if not even more impressive.

Comparing Peyton Manning vs Patrick Mahomes

Peyton Manning had to play from day one of his rookie season, so he had a full 16 starts over his first 7 seasons, but still only topped Mahomes by about 1,000 passing yards. Mahomes still had 3 more passing touchdowns, more yards per game, and about half the interceptions. Their individual accolades are about even, but once again Mahomes has the Super Bowl wins to tip the scales in his favor.

Still, Manning joins Dan Marino as the only ones who were in the same stratosphere as Mahomes in terms of their stats after seven seasons (albeit with double the interceptions).

Comparing Tom Brady vs Patrick Mahomes

Tom Brady is the GOAT of NFL quarterbacks (for now) because of his accomplishments over the length of his career. He eventually grew to be a prolific passer, but in the first stage of his career, he was more like Joe Montana, a guy known for clutch performances who won big games but didn't put up gaudy numbers. Brady is the only quarterback to match Mahomes in Super Bowl wins (both one ahead of Montana), but he doesn't come close to him in terms of stats and accolades for their first seven seasons.

Closing Thoughts

The numbers back up what fans of Patrick Mahomes have been saying, that no other quarterback has had the start to their career that Mahomes has. Tom Brady has as many Super Bowl wins, but his individual numbers don't hold up. Dan Marino and Peyton Manning had similar passing totals (albeit with way more interceptions), but didn't have any Super Bowl wins to go with them.

Through seven seasons in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes has put up the prolific individual numbers of the all time greats like Dan Marino and Peyton Manning, but with the clutch postseason success and Super Bowl wins of Tom Brady and Joe Montana.

We've neven seen that before in NFL history. Yes, Tom Brady did it in the second half of his career, but no other quarterback has done it to start their career. So if you want to say that Patrick Mahomes has had the best start to his career of any quarterback in NFL history, go right ahead. The numbers just don't lie.

If you enjoyed this piece, you can find links to more of my work below.

Ranking the greatest tight ends of all time: Is Travis Kelce the GOAT?

NFL Quarterback Power Rankings: Who is Patrick Mahomes biggest competition?

NFL offseason composite power rankings: Are the Kansas City Chiefs on top?