With two Super Bowl championships and two NFL MVP Awards in just his first seven seasons, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has certainly entered the conversation of all-time greatest quarterbacks.
Let’s look back at the period when Mahomes became a part of the Chiefs and changed the franchise’s fortunes.
When Did Patrick Mahomes Get Drafted?
After his junior season at Texas Tech in 2016, Mahomes announced he would forego his senior season to enter the 2017 NFL Draft. He was projected to be one of the top quarterback prospects in that year’s draft.
He was viewed as one of the top three draft prospects among quarterbacks, along with Mitch Trubisky and Deshaun Watson. In a preview story a few weeks before the draft, NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein had this to say about Mahomes:
“Sky-high potential with great confidence and a rocket launcher for an arm.”
The Chiefs originally had the 27th pick in the first round that year, but they moved up to the 10th pick, trading their first- and third-round picks in that year’s draft, along with their first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, to the Buffalo Bills to get into that 10th spot.
The selection of Mahomes marked the first time the Chiefs took a quarterback in the first round of the draft in 34 years (Todd Blackledge was selected No. 7 overall in the 1983 NFL Draft).
Looking Back at the 2017 NFL QB Draft Class
Mahomes was the second quarterback selected in the 2017 NFL Draft after Trubisky, who was taken with the second overall pick by the Chicago Bears. He was also one of three quarterbacks selected in the first round, with Watson getting picked by the Houston Texans at No. 12 overall.
In all, 10 quarterbacks were selected in that year’s draft, a significant decline from the previous year’s draft (2016) when 15 quarterbacks were selected. In the following year (2018), there were 13 quarterbacks taken in the draft.
Of the 10 quarterbacks picked in 2017, six are still active — Mahomes, Trubisky, Watson, C.J. Beathard, Joshua Dobbs, and Nathan Peterman. All but Peterman started at least one game in the 2023 season.
In his career, Mahomes has 219 touchdown passes, nearly as many as the other nine quarterbacks who were selected have combined (240).
Mahomes’ Legacy Already Set?
It didn’t take Mahomes long to make a major impact on the league. By Year 2 (2018), he was already the NFL MVP, and by Year 3, he was leading the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl championship in almost a half-century (Super Bowl 4).
KEEP READING: Patrick Mahomes Embraces ‘Villain’ Role as He Looks To Win His Third Super Bowl
In just seven seasons, Mahomes is already a part of an elite list as one of only five quarterbacks to have multiple MVP Awards and multiple Super Bowl titles. The other four QBs on this list are Joe Montana, Steve Young, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady.
With a victory on Sunday, Mahomes will also become only the sixth quarterback to have three or more Super Bowl wins, along with Brady (seven), Montana (four), Terry Bradshaw (four), Troy Aikman (three), and Earl Morrall (three).
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