Absurd

By Mike Rifkin

The NFL released its top 100 players list voted by the players, and there’s a new number one player. Tyreek Hill was voted by his peers as the best player in the NFL. Hill unseats his former Quarterback Patrick Mahomes as the best player in the league. Mahomes slipped to four behind Hill, Lamar Jackson and Christian McCaffrey. How can Mahomes slip to four?

Here’s the first thing all three players ranked above Mahomes, well his team beat their teams in the playoffs on his way to his second consecutive Super Bowl Championship. Mahomes’ numbers weren’t what we are used to seeing, but he was in the top 10 in yards, touchdowns and QBR. Also last season it wasn’t like Mahomes was working with this great group of receivers. The Chiefs had two receivers (Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice) go over 900 yards, the next closest was at 460 (Justin Watson). Also in the playoffs, what we saw at times was Mahomes’ use of his running ability, especially in the Super Bowl. 

I’m starting to wonder if we take Mahomes’ greatness for granted. No offense to the three players ranked in front of him, but in a clutch situation Patrick Mahomes is the guy you want with the ball in his hands. People try to find things to throw at Mahomes, for instance he didn’t win a road playoff game, well he went into Buffalo and Baltimore in the playoffs and found a way to win. Tyreek Hill and McCaffrey are great players, but the way Quarterbacks are valued I am not sure you can say they’re better than Mahomes. I will say the Dolphins offense did change when Tyreek Hill hurt his ankle, but that was also a depth issue for Miami. There’s not one player better in the NFL than Patrick Mahomes, and to quote Ric Flair “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” Well at the moment the Chiefs are the back to back champs and somebody is going to have to knock them off. The last thing Mahomes and the Chiefs need is some bulletin board material entering the season.