The 2024 campaign was an odd one for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. While they made it back to the Super Bowl for the third straight year, they promptly got destroyed by the Philadelphia Eagles 40-22. In a season where Mahomes didn’t exactly look like himself all year long, he ended up delivering arguably the worst performance of his career in the Chiefs’ championship rematch with the Eagles.

Mahomes was not bad by any stretch of the imagination last season, but his numbers (3,928 yards, 26 touchdowns) were worse than what fans have become used to seeing from him. In ESPN’s quarterback rankings ahead of the 2025 season, Mahomes still came in at No. 1, but he’s not exactly the de facto top player at his position like he had been in years past.

“Mahomes’ grip on the top spot is loosening slightly,” Jeremy Fowler wrote for ESPN. “After dominating the voting with back-to-back No. 1 rankings in convincing fashion, Mahomes garnered around 60% of the first-place votes this year, which is still impressive but well short of last year, when he received all but one first-place vote.”