Patrick Mahomes is a different breed of quarterback. Not too much debate there.
But are there other quarterbacks in this league who can be defined as a “championship quarterback” at their current level of skill? Hall of Fame quarterback and NFL analyst Kurt Warner thinks that they’re few and far between.
But first, what does Warner define as a “championship quarterback” relative to every other signal caller in the league?
“Just winning is different than being a championship quarterback,” Warner said, appearing on Baldy’s Breakdowns with Brian Baldinger and Jason Myrtetus. “Being a championship quarterback is the ability to be able to win in different ways.
“Specifically, to me, [it’s] being able to win inside the pocket when a team forces you to win inside the pocket, to make decisions, to make reads, to make the layups you’re supposed to make. That, to me, is what separates Patrick Mahomes from the rest.”
Who are “the rest”, then?
“I’m kind of waiting [to see] like everyone else,” Warner said. “I think we’ve got some good, young playmaking quarterbacks… there’s a bunch of them out there.
“The question to me is who can grow and develop their game to the point where they’re not just a playmaking quarterback but they’re a complete quarterback.
“Kyler Murray had a great year in Arizona statistically and making plays. If you watch him on film, he didn’t even know what he was doing half the time. He was just making plays.”
Murray led the Cardinals to a 5-10-1 record in 2019, which didn’t exactly surpass expectations, but it didn’t really seem to be his fault. For one, the offensive line and defense were constant areas that struggled to play up to competition. Murray played very well, too, considering that it was his rookie year.
Though a first overall draft pick isn’t given much transition time between college and when he’s expected to make an impact in the NFL, Murray’s debut season was mostly positive. He threw for 3,722 yards, the seventh-highest total for a rookie quarterback, and boasted a quarterback rating of 87.4, a top-20 figure of all time among rookies. That rating was higher than Cam Newton, Jim Kelly, Carson Wentz and several other notables.
“Deshaun Watson is another guy,” Warner said. “He’s impressive, he’s a leader, he’s a playmaker, but hasn’t really learned how to play the game yet.”
Warner additionally mentioned Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott in this class of quarterbacks, noting that they’ve “shown glimpses at times where they’ve been really good and they’ve shown that they can win at this level,” but hearkened back to his point that “just winning” isn’t the only piece of being a championship quarterback.
While Wentz and Watson seem firmly entrenched in their respective teams' long-term plans, Prescott and the Cowboys have still not come to an agreement regarding his contract. However, his situation, too, seems clear in Dallas.
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