Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been working his way back from an ACL tear for months, and his full participation at training camp has been looking promising.
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones may have said it best when it comes to the two-time MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion. Jones, who has played with the Chiefs since 2016, has played with Mahomes for the entirety of the quarterback’s career.
“He looks like Pat Mahomes,” Jones said via ESPN’s Dan Graziano. “It doesn’t look like anything’s changed. He’s jumping around, being Pat. We’ve just got to get it going.”
Mahomes looks set for Week 1, but preseason action is up in the air, as Graziano noted. It helped that Mahomes worked with Chiefs assistant trainer and physical therapist Julie Frymyer throughout the offseason, Graziano wrote.
Getting Mahomes back on the field will be a key difference for a Chiefs team looking to bounce back from a losing season in 2025 when their quarterback went down with an ACL tear. Mahomes has been dominant throughout his career boasting a 66.2% completion rate for 35,939 yards and 267 touchdowns versus 85 interceptions.
How his running ability will look is an aspect to watch, as it’s a key area for any player coming back from an ACL tear. Mahomes has made plays with his legs throughout his career amassing 2,665 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns.
Patrick Mahomes Only Ranked No. 4
Bleacher Report recently ranked Mahomes fourth among the top 100 quarterbacks in the league behind Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers. Here was the top-100 assessment on Mahomes below.
“2025 was not the usual dominant season for Patrick Mahomes,” Bleacher Report wrote. “He showed inconsistent decision-making, lower-body mechanics and deep accuracy. That said, he is still one of the best in the league.”
“His innate playmaking ability when pressure begins to leak through the offensive line remains elite,” Bleacher Report continued. “His pocket presence and internal clock post-snap are incredible; he has a stronger spidey-sense than Peter Parker himself. Mahomes’ arm talent hasn’t declined. He can make every throw with velocity and power when it’s required. He tore his ACL later in the season, which is worth monitoring.”
Patrick Mahomes Slipped in The Athletic’s QB Rankings
The Athletic also didn’t keep Mahomes in his usual place as the outlet found one vote among the coaches and executives that didn’t place him in Tier 1 among quarterbacks.
The other 49 voters selected Mahomes for Tier 1, though. That said, here is the anonymous general manager’s take with The Athletic below.
“He’s not carrying them every week anymore,” the general manager told The Athletic. “They had the season (2024) when they were historically, you could say, lucky in the one-possession games and then got trounced in the Super Bowl. They were not as impressive in the one-possession games (in 2025). Now, he’s coming off an injury. Is he gonna deteriorate physically?”
The last question about Mahomes is the most relevant. It’s a mixed bag on which athletes come back better after an ACL versus those who regress. As for carrying the team, if Mahomes does that in 2026, he could find all Tier 1 votes with The Athletic again next year.
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