Texas Tech football: The all-time Red Raider NFL offense
QBs: Pat Mahomes, Billy Joe Tolliver
Prior to 2018, QB would have been the biggest weakness on the all-time Texas Tech football NFL roster. But thanks to Patrick Mahomes, it might be the offense’s greatest strength.
There’s no Red Raider fan that needs to be reminded of how fantastic Mahomes has been in his first two years as a starter. But it is sure fun to put his numbers into perspective.
Some, such as Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab, believe that Mahomes might be off to the best three-year start of any player in the history of the NFL. That’s keeping in mind that he made only one start as a rookie in 2017 when he was the backup to Alex Smith in Kansas City.
"Schwab writes, “Only 13 men have ever won a regular-season MVP and Super Bowl MVP: Bart Starr., Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, Emmitt Smith, Steve Young, Terrell Davis, John Elway, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Mahomes. Mahomes is on that list of legends at age 24. Every other player on that list who is eligible is in the Hall of Fame, and Brady, Manning and Rodgers are locks. “It’s hard to compare Mahomes to others who had three full seasons as a starter, but it almost doesn’t matter. His accomplishments in his two seasons as starter are almost unmatched. The Super Bowl/MVP combination is rare and especially important at quarterback. It’s simply not too early to wonder if we’re watching the early stages of the greatest NFL career ever. Odds are against him becoming the GOAT because it’s very hard to sustain anything for 12-15 years, but a special foundation is being set.”"
The youngest player to ever win a Super Bowl MVP as well as the youngest to capture both a regular-season MVP and Super Bowl MVP, he’s second on Schwab’s list of the ten best starts to a career in NFL history. The only player ahead of him is legendary Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown. Thus, he gives the all-time Texas Tech football NFL offense as good of a QB as any team could ever hope to have.
Behind him would be Billy Joe Tolliver. With 10,760 career passing yards and 59 career touchdown passes, the 11-year NFL veteran would be a decent backup option. Playing for the New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Oilers, and San Diego Chargers from 1989-2000, Tolliver was the most successful Texas Tech alum to play QB in the NFL prior to Mahomes’ emergence.
But with the reigning Super Bowl MVP now sitting atop the football world as the best player on the planet, Tolliver moves to No. 2 on this list. But being second to Mahomes in anything is an easy pill to swallow. After all, that’s likely what most of the NFL is going to have to grow accustomed to over the course of the next decade or more.