The Mahomes Effect: How it has changed the game
Patrick Mahomes was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. During his first season, he was Alex Smith's backup. When it came to Mahomes getting drafted, many teams decided against him based on how he had played, but the Chiefs saw potential in him and decided that they could work with how he played that position.
“He is one of the best young quarterbacks to enter the league in decades. Whether it’s his strong arm, great running ability, or uncanny way of making unconventional yet incredible throws (from sidearm to no-look passes), Mahomes propelled the Chiefs to the top of the AFC standings with 48 touchdown passes and 4,816 passing yards” (Greenberg, 2018, para. 3).
While Mahomes is so beloved as a player, he is also cherished as a person because of his charity and the support that he has given others. He is not a player who lives in the city or the state the team is in. He has become an investor with other sports teams in Kansas City, such as the KC Current (a women’s soccer team), the Kansas City Royals (a Major League Baseball team), and Sporting KC (a Major League Soccer team). Not only has he had an impact on the teams in Kansas City, but he has also had an impact on the community. Mahomes has been nominated twice, in 2023 and 2024, for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his work with his foundation, “15 and the Mahomes.” Mahomes is someone who does not take any of his achievements for granted. A massive moment for people loving the quarterback as a person was after the current Chiefs’ CEO, Clark Hunt’s mother, Norma Hunt, passed away. Mahomes promised they would wear Norma’s name, win another AFC trophy for her, and honor Lamar Hunt.
The media likes to discuss the “Mahomes Effect” topic in a positive light because so many people like him. He continues to impress reporters, spectators, and athletes who, at one point or another, have been seen as greats, like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Montana, and Peyton Manning. There are also up-and-coming quarterbacks who are trying to become like Mahomes, such as Dylan Raiola, a freshman quarterback at the University of Nebraska.
Rise of the “Ideal” Quarterback: The Background
The first area of my research is about how Mahomes has become the “ideal” quarterback, and going into more depth about how he plays and has significantly impacted his team. Before Mahomes, the Chiefs had struggled to get to the postseason. Up until 2018, they hosted only nine playoff games in 55 seasons, having won only two of the nine games. The first time the Chiefs won the AFL Championship was in 1962, before the AFL and NFL merged and before they moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs. After the merger and the gain of Andy Reid, there was still no difference in the team or the outcome of the seasons. Two of Reid’s biggest and most memorable losses were his first two post-season home games with the Chiefs. The first was 2016 during the Divisional Round, with a final score of 18-16. The other memorable loss was at the end of the 2017 season Wild Card game against Tennessee, with a final score of 22-21.
As of 2025, Mahomes and the Chiefs have hosted 12 post-season games in which they went 10-2. Which is five times as many home playoff wins in Mahomes’ first six seasons as the team had in their first 55 seasons (Palmer, 2025). Before his arrival, the Chiefs had never hosted multiple playoff games or an American Football Conference championship game.
After Mahomes was drafted and going into his rookie season, they wanted to develop him as a player. Reid decided to pause throwing him into a game, and instead, they had him on the bench to watch Smith, how he plays, and how he had led the team. Sitting on the bench and watching Smith allowed Mahomes to gain knowledge that young quarterbacks usually do not get to experience with such a strong quarterback as Smith. Many quarterbacks at the beginning of the season are not playing by the end of the season if they are thrown into the game too early.
“‘I’m not saying he couldn’t have been as great as he is now if he didn’t sit. But to be with Alex Smith, I thought, was something you can’t buy,’ Reid said. ‘And he was able to sit there and watch a guy that’s the ultimate professional on and off the field, and just get an idea of the lay of the land, of how things work in this league,”’ (Jones, 2025, para. 5).
Mahomes became the “ideal” quarterback in 2018-2019 because he got all eyes on the league due to him throwing 50 touchdowns and winning Most Valuable Player in his first year in the starting position. Mahomes has brought the Chiefs to five Super Bowls, having won three; if the three Super Bowls had been consecutive, he would have been the first-ever quarterback to earn their team a three-peat. Mahomes is transitioning so well from backup to starter after Smith got traded to the Washington Commanders. Their transition showed a lot of teams that a young quarterback fresh out of their rookie year could benefit other teams. “The Mahomes-Smith transition is a blueprint for how teams can successfully develop a young quarterback” (Jones, 2025, para. 10).
Mahomes has just continued to be the “ideal” quarterback because he continues to be dominant in the league, meaning that he has already surpassed a lot of quarterbacks that at one time or another were considered the greatest and who have been in the league longer than him, like Aaron Rodgers. Until Mahomes, no quarterbacks could compete against Tom Brady, but then Mahomes came in so dominant and took on the league. “There are so many different stats and numbers to back up Mahomes’ ranking, but one of the most staggering is that he has reached the AFC Championship Game in all six seasons as a starter” (Brisco, 2024, para. 4). He is his most dominant during the playoffs, so much so that once playoffs start, he is no longer Patrick. He has become “Playoff Patrick” due to his statistics; he has a higher passing rate in the postseason than in the regular season, in which his regular season passing rate is the second highest.
The “Mahomes Effect” case study
This part of my research is about the “Mahomes Effect” and how it came about. Jeff Christensen has been Mahomes’ throwing coach since he entered the NFL in 2017, focusing on his form and function and understanding how modern quarterbacks play. “Simply translated, the Mahomes Effect is the wide acceptance by coaches, players at every level of quarterbacks playing the position like Mahomes: free, wild… even crazy at times” (Dodd, 2023, para. 5). The “Mahomes Effect” has changed the game because of his improvisation which a while ago would have gotten the player pulled off the field but now its if you throw in particular ways, or make a change in the play in a split decision.
The way of playing that turned a lot of NFL teams away in 2017 is now crucial for the quarterback position today. In 2017, Christensen made it his job to enhance the future Chiefs quarterback. He was seen as having no mechanics but Chris Cabott who is the representative for Mahomes as the CEO of Steinberg Sports and Entertainment told teams to think about it and reminded teams of Mahomes and what he has won such as Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year his first year at Texas Tech as well as being drafted in baseball by the Detroit Tigers and could have had a basketball scholarship.
“No mechanics? ‘You think he’s not athletic or smart enough to pick up three-, five- and seven-step drops?’ Cabott asked those teams rhetorically. No mechanics? Maybe that’s the part of the point. Maybe that’s an advantage when Mahomes throws left-handed as he did against Denver in 2018” (Dodd, 2023, para. 22).
Bryce Young grew up watching Mahomes and admires the way he plays. Young had been a quarterback at the University of Alabama and some say he was the best in history because of his ability to make plays. “Now with the Carolina Panthers, Young became only the second Alabama quarterback selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft. He won the 2021 Heisman Trophy imitating a version of the player he grew up watching” (Dodd, 2023, para. 8). Another player is former Louisiana State University quarterback Jayden Daniels, who in 2023 became the very first Football Bowl Subdivision player to throw 350+ yards and run 200+ yards in one game. Daniels in 2023 was 82 yards short of being the first quarterback to rush 1000 yards since 2021 (Dodd, 2023).
Young children are starting to see more and more players who play with more freedom, which has become the demand. Coaches and players have begun to call the traditional way a quarterback plays “on schedule” and the way that Mahomes plays “off schedule.” When it comes to kids, it’s hard for them to be able to imitate their favorite athletes fully, but they also want to have the fun backyard experience. “Not everyone can dunk, block a blitzing linebacker or stop a 100-mile-per-hour slapshot, but they can chuck a Nerf football as far as possible” (Dodd, 2023, para. 13). Currently kids are growing up playing backyard football trying to figure out how they can do a sidearm throw and make it good enough like Mahomes to use it when they want to get recruited for college or get drafted in the NFL.
Impact of the “Mahomes Effect”
This area of my research is going into how the “Mahomes Effect” impacts more than just his team and has changed what coaches want when recruiting a quarterback. Not only is Mahomes impacting how potential NFL quarterbacks should play, but he is also affecting how current quarterbacks should be playing. It has been typical in current and retired quarterbacks that once they reach a specific age range, they stay consistent, or they sort of go into a downfall as a player. That has not been true for Mahomes. He has gotten better as he has gotten older. He has improved in many ways, but more specifically, his passes have gotten more accurate. In 2022, his pass accuracy was 67.1%, but then the following season it was 68.6%, which was close to the NFL record set in 2018 by Drew Brees of 74.4% (Dodd, 2023).
When it comes to Mahomes's impact, the media likes to highlight both the position and how his being on the Chiefs is impacting other teams, following what other teams are starting to do. It has been said that seven years ago, the Chiefs made a decision that changed the team and city forever, and never looked back. When looking to draft a quarterback, they are looking to see if they are similar to Mahomes.
‘“Nowadays, to have a chance to win, you have to have a quarterback who can at least create,’ he said, ‘because when things break down and you get to the final top teams, they’re going to have great defenses who can rush the passer. It does not matter how good your offensive line is; you have a guy who can create. I felt that way for a long time. I think people are feeling more strongly about that now than ever” (Dodd, 2023, para. 48).
Mahomes hasn’t had an impact on only the Chiefs players and other NFL players he has also had a massive effect on CEO Clark Hunt and head coach Andy Reid. Mahomes got Reid his first-ever Super Bowl win as a head coach. Before Mahomes entered the NFL, Reid had won one Super Bowl when he was a part of the coaching staff for the Green Bay Packers, but while he was the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, they did make Super Bowl appearances but never won one.
Heading into the 2024 postseason, especially the Super Bowl against the Eagles, Hunt knew his team had something the other teams didn’t. The relationship between Mahomes and Reid is like no other. ‘“Why nobody’s ever gone back to have a chance at a three-peat, I think it’s because those teams didn’t have the combination of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes’ said Hunt” (Foote, 2025, para. 4). For Hunt Mahomes alone has changed the way that people nationally have looked at the team, gaining a quarterback like Mahomes was something that Chiefs fans had wanted for a while. For many years, the Chiefs’ quarterbacks had been traded to the Chiefs; they were not just Chiefs players. For example, Smith was with the San Francisco 49ers for seven seasons before joining the Chiefs, and Mahomes’ former backup, Chad Henne, had been with the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars for nine seasons. So many people have become fans just because of the star quarterback. “It’s a palpable excitement that’s spread across the community, the country, and is obvious when walking around training camp and seeing the number of #15 jerseys in the stands,” (Kansas City Chiefs, 2018, para. 3).
Now, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has also been impacted by the arrival of Mahomes. Nagy was the quarterback coach when Mahomes was a rookie, but shortly after left to be the head coach for the Chicago Bears from 2018-2021, but in 2022 returned to the Chiefs to be the quarterbacks coach and the senior offensive assistant. Mahomes has helped Nagy become a successful assistant coach because in the five seasons he has been an assistant, they have made the playoffs four times, and in his first season back after being with the Bears, they won Super Bowl LVII. Nagy and Mahomes both need each other because Mahomes has been successful with Nagy, helping develop him as a player. Still, Nagy has also been successful because Mahomes is a good player.
While the media discusses Mahomes and the “Mahomes effect” in a positive light there are still going to be on air reporters and journalists who take all that he had done and downplay the work that he and the coaches have been able to achieve.
“It’s Brady, the quarterback of those Patriots teams, who stands in the way of Mahomes being considered the greatest quarterback of all time. But after digging deeper into their careers, it should be clear that Mahomes’s case can’t be easily dismissed” (Greenberg, 2024, para. 3).
Since Mahomes has joined the league, but especially since Brady has retired, there have been a lot of comparisons between them. It has mainly been that whenever Mahomes has done something or is about to do something, it gets compared to how Brady ended his career, how many Super Bowl rings he has won, and how many MVP titles he has won. It must be pointed out that Mahomes has accomplished a lot more at 29 than Brady did at 29. Reporters and NFL fans cannot let it just be that Mahomes is the up-and-coming best quarterback in NFL history.
The “Mahomes effect” concerns how he changed the way the quarterback position is played and how he has also changed the way the country looks at the Chiefs. Teams are looking for players who can create and change plays on a whim so that Mahomes won’t be as dominant in the league and will have some competition. The effect will continue to grow as Mahomes continues to improve because of how much time he has spent with specific Chiefs coaches and his coaches outside of the franchise. We will also start to see more incoming quarterbacks taking tidbits from the way that Mahomes played, which will allow them to be more likely to get drafted more often.
The media will continue to highlight Mahomes and his impact because he continues to be creative when he plays. The media will also continue to highlight it because America loves Mahomes and wants to pay attention to him because he is a good player.
References
Brisco, J. (2024, June 25). Where does Patrick Mahomes land in all-time Quarterback rankings? Kansas City Chiefs on SI. https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/gm-report/where-does-patrick-mahomes-land-in-all-time-quarterback-rankings.
Dodd, D. (2023, November 15). How Patrick Mahomes’ free-wheeling, fun style is influencing quarterbacks, offenses in college and beyond. CBS Sports. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/how-patrick-mahomes-free-wheelingfun-style-is-influencing-quarterbacks-offenses-in-college-and-beyond/.
Foote, J. (2025, January 27). Clark Hunt on ‘Transformational’ Andy Reid-Patrick Mahomes Duo, Reid’s All-Time Rank. Kansas City Chiefs on SI. https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/game-day/clark-hunt-on-transformational-andy-reid-patrick-mahomes-duo-reids-all-time-rank#:~:text=Taking%20down%20the%20Buffalo%20Bills,the%20run%20and%20pass%20games.
Greenberg, N. (2024, February 1). Is Patrick Mahomes already the greatest quarterback in NFL history? Washington Post. https://link-gale-com.libproxy.highpoint.edu/apps/doc/A781164587/AONE?u=hpu_main&sid=googleScholar&xid=0fdad41c.
Jones, J. (2025, February 4). Andy Reid says Patrick Mahomes evolved because of ‘Ultimate professional’ Alex Smith. Utah Utes on SI. https://www.si.com/college/utah/football/andy-reid-says-patrick-mahomes-evolved-because-of-ultimate-professional-alex-smith#:~:text=In%202018%2C%20after%20Kansas%20City,first%20year%20as%20a%20starter.&text=The%20decision%20to%20have%20Mahomes,year%20has%20paid%20off%20tremendously.
Palmer, T. (2025, January 15). The Patrick Mahomes playoff effect is real, and it’s been spectacular for Chiefs. 41 KSHB Kansas City. https://www.kshb.com/sports/football/chiefs/the-patrick-mahomes-playoff-effect-is-realand-its-been-spectacular-for-chiefs.
“Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt Talks About the Patrick Mahomes’ Effect.” (2018, August 4). Kansas City Chiefs. https://www.chiefs.com/news/chiefs-chairman-and-ceo-clark-hunt-talks-about-the-patrick-mahomes-effect.
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