NFL players vote Patrick Mahomes out of top 5 in NFL Top 100 list
Reigning and defending No. 1 player in the NFL Top 100 list lost his crown Sunday night when the list was revealed on NFL Network.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes dropped from the top spot to No. 8 on this year’s list. Taking the title was Tom Brady, a now four-time champion. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB also won it in 2011, 2017 and 2018.
NFL Top 100 is voted on by the players. The players believe there are seven guys better than the Chiefs’ QB. Ahead of Mahomes is Davante Adams, T.J. Watt, Jonathan Taylor, Cooper Kupp, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Donald and Brady.
Mahomes’ seven-spot tumble this year is the third-biggest since the list began in 2011. Not nearly as big of a fall as Lamar Jackson saw just the year before when the Baltimore Ravens’ captain slid from No. 1 to No. 24. Cam Newton saw the biggest drop over the list’s history when he went from the top spot to No. 44 in 2016-17.
To be voted as high as 8 might not be seen as a slight. The players are saying he is a top-10 guy, which is as elite as it gets. It's also the fourth straight year he ranked in the top 10.
But the No. 8 spot is yet another shot he could take this offseason. Remember what happened two years ago when he was No. 4? Mahomes took note of it, tweeting a pencil emoji. He then jogged off the field after he topped Jackson, the No. 1 player that year, counting to four.
All the Super Bowl-winning QB has done since taking over behind center is lead his team to at minimum the AFC Championship game. His record, stats and play on the field appear deserving of a top-five spot, perhaps as high as No. 1.
But Mahomes did have a bit of a down year, for his standards, in 2021. Things started slowly as the Chiefs went 3-4 through the first two months of the season, before he led the Chiefs back to the AFC title game, eventually falling in overtime to the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24. Now, the QB has plenty of chips he can add on his shoulder as the 2022 season is set to kick off in less than two weeks.
After the Chiefs traded away Tyreek Hill, the star wide receiver said his new QB Tua Tagovailoa was a more accurate quarterback. Former teammate Sammy Watkins added his Green Bay Packer quarterback is on a whole other level than Mahomes, and it appears other players agree after Rodgers' top-three ranking.
Also, an anonymous defensive coordinator said Mahomes was not a tier-1 QB, and if you take away his first read, he scrambles and plays streetball.
But there are some people who believe he is No. 1, including his former right tackle Mitchell Schwartz.
Mahomes' teammate Travis Kelce joined him as a top-10 player according to their peers. Kelce was No. 10 on the list.
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