When Patrick Mahomes was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Texas Tech fans knew exactly the kind of quarterback the Chiefs were getting. Mahomes became the starter in his second year with the Chiefs and quickly showed something that Red Raider fans already knew: that he was an elite quarterback.
The rest of the story is known as Mahomes, since becoming the starter has led to five Super Bowls, won three of them, has three Super Bowl MVP awards, two NFL MVP awards, and has been the best quarterback in the game for a long time. Of course, with a newer superstar in the game, the comparisons to the greats are inevitable, and Mahomes has certainly had his fair share of them.
The quarterbacks that Mahoems typically get compared to are Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rodgers. Both Brady and Manning have called it a career in the last few seasons, and Rodgers seems to have hinted at this season being his last. However, when looking at the first seven years of these four quarterbacks' careers, many would think Mahomes wouldn't be able to hold his own, but looking at the numbers, it seems Mahomes has bested these four in almost every category.
Through his first 7 seasons as a starter, here's how Mahomes stacks up with some of the greats 👀 pic.twitter.com/y6uEzgqEI7
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) June 30, 2025
Patrick Mahomes is showing he is the top dog in the first seven years as a starter
When looking at the graphic above, Mahomes is being compared to Brady, Manning, and Rodgers in seven different categories: record, passing yards, passing touchdowns, interceptions, passer rating, MVP awards, and Super Bowl wins. While these other three quarterbacks are looked at as some of the best to ever play the game, Mahomes should definitely be in that conversation, too, as he beats those four out in five of the seven categories.
Mahomes just barely beats out Brady with a better record at 88-23 in his first seven seasons as a starter, while Brady was 86-24. When it comes to passing yards, Mahomes wins in a landslide with 32,068 passing yards, which is 2,626 more yards than the next closest quarterback, which is Manning. Mahomes also wins when it comes to passing touchdowns with 245 passing touchdowns, just 20 more than Rodgers, who came in second.
Interceptions are where Mahomes finds his first loss in this comparison, as he has had 73 in his first seven years as a starter, but that is only the second-lowest, still beating out Brady and Manning. The passer rating is the second loss Mahomes has suffered against Rodgers, who had a 106.6 passer rating, and Mahomes held a 102.3 rating, not far behind Rodgers.
Mahomes returns to his winning ways in this comparison when it comes to NFL MVP awards with two, which he ties with Manning and Rodgers, and finally Super Bowl wins, which he ties at three with Brady.
This quarterback comparison shows that even though Mahomes has had his struggles in the last few seasons, he is still an elite quarterback and can certainly stand with he all-time greats. Texas Tech can be very proud of the product they had with Mahomes and know that everything he is doing in the NFL is exactly what he did at Texas Tech, and that is something Red Raider fans can be very proud of.