Former Kansas City Chiefs great leaves Patrick Mahomes off his list of top 3 QBs for a very odd reason
This is a tough sell.
Although he only played with the franchise for two seasons, Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana made a big impact with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Montana compiled a 17-8 record as the Chiefs’ starting QB between the 1993 and 1994 season. He led the team all the way to the AFC Championship game in ’93, and to the wild-card round in ’94. Unfortunately, Montana was a bit injury plagued during his run in Kansas City and ultimately couldn’t lead the team to a Super Bowl win after capturing four with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.
The Chiefs went through a lot of misery at the QB position after Montana retired, until they drafted Patrick Mahomes in 2017. Fast forward eight years later, and K.C. has gone to five Super Bowls, winning three. However, that’s apparently not good enough for Mahomes to crack the top 3 of Montana’s top QBs list, which he revealed while visiting with the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
Patrick Mahomes doesn’t crack Joe Montana’s top 3 QBs list
“I’m taking the guy in Buffalo (Bills QB Josh Allen)” Montana said. “Obviously, (Cincinnati Bengals QB) Joe Burrow’s another guy I like a lot. And believe it or not, I like the guy with the (Los Angeles) Chargers (Justin Herbert). I think [he’s] kind of gone by the wayside there. I just like the way all those three guys are. I do also like the guy in Philly (Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts).”
McAfee began the conversation by excluding 49ers QB Brock Purdy, because he would have obviously been Montana’s top guy given their San Francisco connection. In total, Montana placed five QBs ahead of Mahomes in Purdy, Allen, Burrow, Herbert, and Hurts. When asked about Mahomes, Montana gave an odd reasoning for not putting him higher.
“I think I would have if he was younger,” Montana responded.
Mahomes is 29 years old, which is the same age as Allen, just one year older than Burrow, and only two years older than Herbert and Hurts. Montana’s age argument really only works for Purdy, who is 25, but it’s safe to say the overwhelming majority of people would take Mahomes over Purdy as their franchise QB.
The discredit that Mahomes has been receiving as of late mostly stems from his statistical decline over the past two years, which is a very high bar that he set early in his career. The truth is, he’s still pretty on par with his peers statistically, and continues to win games at a rate that is night and day compared to all other QBs.
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