Patrick Mahomes Lands Atop 2025 Season QB List

Patrick Mahomes has been criticized by some pundits for allegedly having a down season in 2024. However, that "down" season saw No. 15 and his teammates achieve a third-straight AFC Title Game victory. Kansas City's fifth in six years, complete with seven consecutive appearances in the AFC Championship. With training camps roughly one month away for National Football League teams to prepare for 2025, Yahoo Sports contributor Charles McDonald released a list this week that ranks the top ten quarterbacks in the NFL heading into the 2025 season.

As previously stated, chief among the list is the ultimate Chief, Patrick Lavon Holmes II. At age 29, the consummate professional, Mahomes, is already considered one of the greatest throwers in the history of the game, and he's done the lot before the age of 30.

McDonald ranked the best-of-the-best signal callers in four separate tiers. The Chiefs' nine-year vet was listed in a class all by himself in the, fittingly enough, "The Patrick Mahomes Tier". McDonald explained in the piece why.

"The counting stats might have been down, but no one did more heavy lifting on offense last year than Mahomes. Getting that version of the Chiefs to the Super Bowl was no easy task, and even though Mahomes played one of the worst games in his career against the Eagles in New Orleans, he still deserves the top nod in the league. He might not have another 50-touchdown season in his career, but if the surroundings get more stable, the Chiefs will get back to having more explosive plays. The king is still the king," McDonald wrote.

Following Mahomes at No. 2 and 3 were the signal callers in the "Almost Mahomes Tier". That section of the ranking was made up of the past two NFL MVPs, the Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills. Both of these passers fell victim to Mahomes' Chiefs in the AFC Championship Games of their most recent MVP years. Neither has been to the Super Bowl and all of their title game losses have come when facing Mahomes.

Only two QBS have defeated the Kansas City legend for an AFC Title. One is the retired Tom Brady for New England in 2018 and the other is Cincinnati's Joe Burrow. Burrow is included at No. 4 overall and the top of the "Ceiling-Raiser Tier" alongside No. 5 Los Angeles Charger Justin Herbert and No. 6 Los Angeles Ram Matthew Stafford. Rounding out the list in the "Ceiling-Bottom Tier" is Dallas' Dak Prescott at No. 7, the Raiders' new man Gino Smith at No. 8, Green Bay Jordan Love at No. 9, and No. 10 C.J. Stroud of Houston.

Lists like these are truly a lot of fun and offer up a lot of debate, but being on top in an online post in June won't come close to being on top again in February. For a guy like Patrick Mahomes, that's the only ranking that should matter.