Patrick Mahomes is not only one of the best quarterbacks playing now, but he has made a name for himself as one of the best quarterbacks of all time. As decorated as Mahomes’ career is, he was not an obvious superstar during the NFL Draft process, and there is one media pundit who predicted Mahomes’ success before anyone else.
How Chris Simms Is Forever Linked to Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
That pundit is Chris Simms, whose father, Phil, played for the New York Giants. Chris himself played in the NFL from 2004 to 2009. During this time, Simms played with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, and Denver Broncos.
His NFL experience has translated to some great NFL media takes, such as being the first to claim Mahomes’ greatness in the 2017 draft.
In a recent interview with “Go Long,” Simms said he felt a connection with Mahomes, as Simms was one of the first people to talk highly of Mahomes during the pre-draft process and even proclaim that he should be the No. 1 pick.
“I almost feel indebted to him. And he’ll say that we have kind of a relationship because he’ll say, ‘Hey, you were the first one in the media to talk about me that way.’ And I go, yeah, and the fact that you proved me right has helped me out a lot in my career.”
In college at Texas Tech, Mahomes had some great numbers, but he was very raw. A lot of people had Mahomes as a project-type quarterback, meaning he could be great, but there were significant risks as well.
Deshaun Watson and Mitchell Trubisky were coming out of the class, and both, mainly Watson, were viewed as better and more polished prospects.
Simms lists Mahomes and Josh Allen as two quarterbacks he planted his flag on and it paid off, which helped his career significantly.
“Those are my buddies. I feel like they’re like my kids to a degree for what they’ve done for my career there,” Simms said.
Initially, Simms being so high on Mahomes was deemed by many to be a crazy, very out-there take.
“My Mahomes thing, when I first said it, I had people in scouting departments like, ‘What? Mahomes [at] No. 1? You’re crazy.’ But then, after the fact, I found out that, of course, Sean Payton was about to trade [up] for Patrick Mahomes, and the Kansas City Chiefs one-upped them and traded in front of them. And I had heard, through that process, after I made those comments, that somebody from the Saints went, ‘Hey, our coach likes Mahomes a whole lot too.’
“And then after the draft, the Chiefs told me one of the things that kind of got them and got everybody [on board], not that I was the selling point, but a little bit of just like, ‘Hey, look, Simms thinks he’s really damn good too,’ for the people that were maybe questioning it a little bit in the organization.”
In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Chiefs traded up to take Mahomes with the No. 10 pick. There were reports that the Saints wanted Mahomes at the No. 11 pick to learn under Drew Brees. However, the Chiefs leapfrogged the Saints to ensure they landed Mahomes.
This whole story demonstrates two things. First, Simms called this perfectly, and he should get a ton of credit for it. It is easy to say that everyone should have believed in Mahomes, but there are plenty of examples of project quarterbacks not working out, such as Trey Lance and Anthony Richardson Sr.
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It also shows that analysts’ pre-draft work does carry merit. Not every analyst hits on their evaluations, but neither does every team. Since entering the league, barring his rookie year in 2017, Mahomes has finished in the top 10 of PFSN’s NFL QB Impact Rankings in six of eight seasons, including four top-two finishes.
Overall, this story is a great way to show the value that analysts can bring to the draft process.
