NFL analyst not interested to protect Patrick Mahomes' feelings amid uproar on Chiefs QB's No. 4 rank in Top 100 list
Last week, the National Football League released its annual list of the top 100 players. The highly anticipated list saw Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes being ranked at the No. 4 position. This took social media by storm, igniting an uproar for ranking the two-time NFL MVP at No. 4.
However, Green Bay Packers Super Bowl XXXI champion and NFL analyst Bucky Brooks has no issue with Mahomes' ranking. On Monday's episode of FS1's 'Speak,' Brooks said that the NFL world, including the analysts and the fans, is doing "a lot of gymnastics" to protect Mahomes' feelings. Brooks argued that the Chiefs quarterback did not have a good season when compared to his standards.
[From 9:38 mark onwards]
"It's okay if you're not number one all the time. You don't have to be number one all the time. He didn't have his best year. Look at one point Pat Mahomes had 50 touchdowns and won an MVP. He had 27 touchdown passes last year. Like, based on his standard, he didn't play to his standard. So how can we say, 'oh, man, we did him wrong. He should be number one.'"
While Brooks makes an interesting point, it is to be noted that Patrick Mahomes had one of the worst wide receiving corps in the NFL last season. The Kansas City Chiefs had the most dropped passes (44) during the 2023 regular season, with a 6.9 percent drop rate. Even Travis Kelce, the star tight end, had his issues, before getting things in order during the post-season.
Patrick Mahomes had to alter his game, donning the hat of game manager whenever required. Another important point to be noted is that the Chiefs QB had a career-high rushing yards (389) last season, showing how much load he had to carry, with a lack of dependability in his wide receiver group.
Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey played better than Patrick Mahomes, claims Bucky Brooks
Speaking on the same show, Brooks said that Mahomes shouldn't be rewarded because he didn't play like the best player in football the entire 2023 NFL season. He added that Tyreek Hill and Christian McCaffrey, who were ranked above Mahomes, were significantly better.
[From 10:03 mark onwards]
"There's no one that that's ahead of him that we should take down. Tyreek Hill had 1700 yards and 13 touchdowns. That's a nice season. Christian McCaffrey had 2000 scrimmage yards and 21 touchdowns. 'I'm just saying I understand the respect factor for Pat Mahomes, but I feel like we're doing a whole lot to make sure that his feelings aren't hurt."
The top five ranked players were Tyreek Hill, Lamar Jackson, Christian McCaffrey, Patrick Mahomes and Myles Garrett, with the Miami Dolphins wide receiver leading the Top 100 NFL players list.