The NFL has continued its countdown of the “Top 100 Players of 2026” and reached the top-20 this week. But when Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes showed up at No. 18, people quickly became baffled.
By all metrics, 2025 was a rough year for Mahomes. He missed three games due to injury, went a career-worst 6-8 and had career-low marks in nearly all major passing categories to boot.
But while some quarterbacks who had similar struggles fell all the way out of the top-50, Mahomes didn’t even drop out of the top-20.
What’s the list even based on?
As you might expect, fans took issue with the apparent inconsistency in the rankings, particularly with the difference in rankings change between Mahomes and Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.
“Eighteen feels like the number they picked specifically to start an argument. Nobody agrees where these rankings actually sit and that is clearly the entire point of publishing them,” one user remarked.
“I was told the list was based off last season when Lamar was ranked 69th,” a Lamar Jackson fan wrote.
“Lamar is 69 but Mahomes is 18 lmao nobody knows what this list is based on,” a third wrote.
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That said, plenty of fans believe that the ranking should be based on where they are when they’re healthy, not based on how they performed last year. As a result, plenty are complaining that Mahomes should never be ranked outside of the top-10 or even the top-five.
“Best QB in the sport at 18 I can’t,” one user remarked.
“This whole list is ridiculous. There is no reason for Mahomes to be outside of the top 5. I wish they had a more sound methodology in putting together this list. Asking players ‘who do you think is the best’ is not predictive of the upcoming season at all!”
“He will be back in the top 5 after this year. Bookmark it.”
Maybe the list will prove prophetic, but history shows us that it won’t be.
