Patrick Mahomes' colleagues stop short of naming 3x Super Bowl champion among NFL's smartest QBs
NFL quarterbacks were polled by FOX Sports to determine who the smartest NFL quarterback is. Surprisingly, three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes was not named the smartest.
Mahomes is coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins and is on a trajectory to be one of the best quarterbacks ever. However, in the poll of NFL quarterbacks, only one picked Mahomes as the smartest.
"I know what type of offense he runs, and the play calls are pretty long," that QB said about Mahomes. (per FOX Sports) "What he does is pretty impressive."
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford ran away with the competition as being the two smartest quarterbacks.
"We played against him my rookie year, and it was so cool," one QB said about Rodgers. "You'd hear stories about his IQ and his way of seeing and understanding the game. But to see it in person, the way he operated, just hand signals ... his whole operation was smooth and calm, like he'd done it a million times. I mean, he has."
"How he moves people around the field, and his knowledge of everything going on at one time," one quarterback said of Stafford.
In total, eight quarterbacks got votes as the smartest quarterback in the NFL, with the list being as follows:
- Aaron Rodgers 15
- Matthew Stafford 12
- Kirk Cousins 3
- Jordan Love 1
- Patrick Mahomes 1
- Dak Prescott 1
- Brock Purdy 1
- Russell Wilson 1
(Three QBs declined to answer.)
Patrick Mahomes favored to win MVP
Despite Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes not being named the smartest quarterback in the NFL, he is favored to win MVP.
Mahomes is +475 which implies a 17.4% chance of winning the award, while Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen round out the top three.
Mahomes is entering his eighth NFL season after being selected 10th overall by Kansas City in the 2017 NFL draft. He has led the Chiefs to three Super Bowls, including back-to-back, and is a two-time NFL MVP.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are set to open their 2024 NFL season at home on Thursday (September 5) against the Baltimore Ravens.