Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has the reputation of being one of the most dynamic young quarterbacks in football.
He’s obviously one of the most decorated quarterbacks out there, winning NFL AP MVP honors as a first-year starter and Super Bowl MVP honors this past year. Those awards are indicative of his exciting play on the field. Passing inside the pocket or outside the pocket, clean or under pressure, Mahomes has proven to be great at a lot of different facets of the QB position.
In a recent examination of NFL’s deep-ball passers sparked by NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar sought to figure out which current NFL QB is the best throwing the ball deep. Spoiler Alert: Mahomes came out as the top-ranked QB for Farrar.
This wasn’t simply a measure of who can hurl the football the furthest, though, Mahomes might win that too. Farrar looked at things like timing, arm talent and long-distance throws into tight windows.
Here’s a look at what Farrar had to say about Mahomes:
“No quarterback was more dynamic and explosive with the deep ball than Mahomes in the 2019 season, and no quarterback was more deadly efficient with the deep ball. Mahomes led the NFL last season with 15 deep touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions, and he also led the league in deep-ball yardage at 1,385. In addition, no quarterback taking at least 50% of his team’s snaps had a higher Adjusted Completion Percentage on deep throws than Mahomes’ 56.2. Here’s the scary part: Mahomes did all of this while playing through injuries that limited his effectiveness in the middle of the season. Good luck dealing with the healthy version in 2020 and beyond.“
The exact methodology that Farrar used to come to this conclusion included film study, PFF metrics on throws of 20 or more air yards, SIS data on specific deep routes, and NFL Next Gen Stats on throws into tight coverage, percentage of air yards, and attempted/completed air yards.
The best deep-ball throwers are the ones who don't need "GoFundMe balls" from their receivers. The end zone angle of this Patrick Mahomes TD to Tyreek Hill shows the exactitude required of the best to do it. pic.twitter.com/s3fNcoXSNN
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) May 18, 2020
The best part about this determination is that Mahomes can still get better as a deep-ball passer. As Farrar points out, Mahomes wasn’t exactly healthy for most of the season. He suffered an ankle injury in Week 1 that lingered up until his dislocated kneecap which knocked him out for a few weeks. Imagine what he’ll be capable of as a deep-ball passer without being hampered by injury. It’s an exciting prospect for Chiefs fans and a scary thought for the rest of the NFL.
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