As the Kansas City Chiefs continue to roll through training camp toward the regular season, one of the bigger national storylines has come straight out of Chiefs practice lately.
Patrick Mahomes is enjoying all of the speed he has at his disposal this year. After adding Marquise "Hollywood" Brown via free agency and Xavier Worthy in the draft, Kansas City now has those two plus the explosiveness of Rashee Rice in the wide receiver room. And, boy, the training camp highlights have been something to marvel at.
One thing we've learned by now is that Mahomes hasn't necessarily needed an elite wide receiver in order to succeed. After the Tyreek Hill trade, he has proven himself to be the best quarterback in the league, regardless of who he's throwing the ball to. But this year, the Chiefs went out and ensured he'd have more talent in that room and the results could be magical.
A three-peat, maybe? That's the goal.
However, one rookie quarterback doesn't seem to be following along. Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was interviewed by Kay Adams, host of Up & Adams, at training camp, and he gave his insight on the two passers he'd rank atop the league. Spoiler alert: no Mahomes.
Matthew Stafford is your favorite quarterback’s favorite quarterback.
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) August 8, 2024
Loved this from @CALEBcsw pic.twitter.com/Avv2D5WdG4
Caleb Williams would rank Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford higher than Patrick Mahomes
"Aaron Rodgers is my number one QB," Williams told Adams.
Well, that's a bold take in regards to a player over the age of 40 and coming off an Achilles injury. Had Williams given this answer two years ago, even with the play of Mahomes, I don't think the argument would have been as absurd. After all, Rodgers was long-viewed as maybe the best in the game. That wouldn't have been a silly take.
But, now? At his age and coming off a major injury? That's quite a statement.
"Matthew is top-2 in the league," he'd go on to say about Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. This is yet another bold take, although Stafford is a well-respected Super Bowl champion like Mahomes, and has been doing it for a very long time.
Had Williams put Mahomes at no. 1 and Stafford at no. 2, he might have been able to get away with a valid argument. There's no reason why you couldn't offer up a fair defense of Stafford being a top-2 quarterback. It's understandable. It isn't that crazy.
But, when you fail to include Mahomes in the top-2 argument? That's where we've got problems. It's great if Williams wants to pay respect to his organization's biggest rival over the past decade. It's nice to hear him show so much love for one of the game's "good guys" in Stafford; also one of the toughest quarterbacks of today's game.
However, for Williams to exclude Mahomes from the conversation goes beyond silly and absurd. It's disrespectful.