“He Could Be a Little Erratic” – Analyst on Not Including Patrick Mahomes Among Top Quarterbacks

Analyst Colin Cowherd is known for his contentious opinions on athletes and sports. His statements, more often than not, get us all talking. Sometimes, his opinions have been so unpopular, people have even called for the cancellation of his show. However, Cowherd doesn’t seem to care much about it. On Friday, the analyst released a list of his top 5 quarterbacks based on arm strength. The list gave way to quite a debate, with Patrick Mahomes becoming the center of it.

Top Quarterbacks heading into 2020

Cowherd believes that if the NFL quarterbacks are to be evaluated only based on their “arm talents”, the top five would include Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Kyler Murray, and Jared Goff. He let out, “When I think of arm talent, I think of ‘do you throw a catchable ball? Is it in stride? Do you throw a soft, deep ball with a feathery touch that drops down from the sky like Seattle soft rain? Do you throw a ball, so you don’t set your receiver up to get smoked?”

While the list seems just fine at first glance, it missed out one very brilliant quarterback – Patrick Mahomes. Yes, you read it correctly – the Super Bowl MVP who threw 9,412 passing yards and 76 passing touchdowns over three seasons did not make it to Colin Cowherd’s Top 5 Arm Talents.

Cowherd said that “Mahomes and Carson Wentz can throw it from different angles but… sometimes Mahomes isn’t even looking at you and take[s] big risks which can sometimes get the receiver in trouble.” He added that if he were a receiver, he wouldn’t want a “hard thrower“.

Does Patrick Mahomes truly not have the best arm talent?

Colin further said, “what about Mahomes? Mahomes is just the most talented person in the world playing quarterback. He’s got a big arm, he could throw it sideways, he doesn’t look at you. But, at times, he could be a little erratic. Sometimes, the strongest arm in the league… that doesn’t always mean it’s the easiest ball to catch. And to me, this whole league is about what’s the easiest ball to catch.”

Yes, Patrick Mahomes is among the most talented quarterbacks in the league. He has all the skills you’d want in a quarterback. However, he perhaps deserved to be on that list because he can actually throw from any position. While being able to make a throw that’s more “catchable” might benefit receivers, it isn’t always possible. And receivers are trained to catch all kinds of throws.

So, even if Mahomes makes rough throws, he does so impressively.