Peyton Manning lauds Patrick Mahomes, believes Chiefs QB is already destined for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Patrick Mahomes made a historic start to his NFL career with 192 touchdown passes and just 42 interceptions in his first six years in the league. He has established himself as the best quarterback in the league. Did we mention he’s only 27?

Mahomes’ first six years sit alongside similar stretches of the best passers of all time. According to one of these legends, they are enough for Mahomes to secure his golden jacket.

Peyton Manning told TMZ that he believes Mahomes has already done enough to earn a bust in Canton.

“The answer to that question is yes,” Manning told a reporter after being asked if Mahomes had already cemented his place in the hall.

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That may well be true. Mahomes certainly has the credentials — he’s one of only 10 players with two or more NFL MVP honors from the Associated Press. The other nine – Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady – are titans of the game. All of them are (or will be) rooted in Canton.

Still, that’s not Mahomes’ focus, at least not according to Manning.

“I don’t think Patrick thinks that way,” Manning said. “Patrick is right now, right? He won his second MVP night (Thursday), it was a no-brainer, but the fact that he’s in his third Super Bowl in four years, that’s all he cares about.”

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Whether it’s individual accomplishments or team success, it’s hard to deny what Mahomes has accomplished in the league. In just six seasons (one of which was a game), the Magic Man has twice eclipsed the 5,000-passing-yard plateau and, more importantly, led the Chiefs to five straight AFC championship games.

All he has to do is keep up that pace and he’ll be a hit.

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Still, it will be interesting to see how Mahomes’ first five full years compares to the first five years of other Legendary Signalcallers. Really very interesting.

Patrick Mahomes vs. Hall of Fame QBs

Canton has anchored 36 quarterbacks beginning with Slingin’ Sammy Baugh in 1963. The most recent addition was Manning, who joined the exclusive in 2021.

Of those 36, few, if any, have accomplished as much as Mahomes did in the first five years of his startup:

player	meter	TD	INT	Years
Patrick Mahomes	24,421	192	49	2018-22
Aaron Rodgers	21,332	170	45	2008-2012
Peyton Manning	20,618	138	100	1998-2002
Dan Marino	19,422	168	80	1983-87
Brett Favre	18,724	145	77	1992-96
Tom Brady	18,029	123	66	2001-05
Drew Brees	16,545	105	64	2002-06
Joe Montana	15,513	105	54	1980-84
John Elway	14,835	85	77	1983-87
Johnny Unitas	12,053	109	72	1956-60
Frank Tarkenton	12.018	96	79	1961-65

Mahomes leads the group in touchdowns and passing yards while also throwing the second fewest interceptions (behind Aaron Rodgers). Not that bad.

Now Mahomes is clearly benefiting from the emergence of a temporary league. The real test of his dominance will be seeing how he and the quarterbacks who have preceded him compare to other QBs of their era. A list of quarterbacks with first-team All-Pro selections during their first five years as a starter:

player	First All-Pro team appearances
Dan Marino	3
Patrick Mahomes	2
Johnny Unitas	2
Brett Favre	2
Drew Brees	1
Aaron Rodgers	1

Seems like he’s well on his way to earning a place among the greats.