All it takes is one player to change the perception of a franchise.

For decades, the Kansas City Chiefs were known as a team that couldn’t draft a successful quarterback. Any time they could find one that was halfway decent was through free agency or trade. They’d go decades at a time without even starting a QB they had drafted. Then Patrick Mahomes came along, and now nobody talks about all that.

Let’s talk about some of the greatest Chiefs quarterbacks of all time!

5. Bill Kenney

(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

Kenney was originally drafted by the Dolphins in 1978, but got cut at the end of training camp. He resurfaced on the Chiefs’ roster in 1980, and when Steve Fuller got hurt he took advantage of the situation and became the Chiefs QB1. KC didn’t see him as a long term solution, and as it turned out, the 1983 NFL Draft had an exceptionally deep quarterback class. So it made sense for the Chiefs to take a quarterback, and I’m sure that people at the time thought that Todd Blackledge had just as much potential as Jim Kelly or Dan Marino to have a Hall of Fame career.

Kenney wasn’t ready to fade into the night. He used the Chiefs drafting his successor as motivation to have the best season of his career, culminating in a Pro Bowl selection. Kenney’s 4,348 passing yards stood as a franchise single season record until 2004, and his 24 touchdown passes were a career high. Kenney never got close to reaching those numbers again, and spent most of the rest of his career running for his life due to a weak offensive line, but he did manage to keep the less than impressive Blackledge from taking his job.

4. Trent Green

Green is most known by football fans as the St. Louis Rams QB that got injured in the 1999 preseason and was replaced by a little-known backup by the name of Kurt Warner. The rest was history, and Green was traded to Kansas City prior to the 2001 season. Dick Vermeil had made the move from St. Louis to Kansas City and had faith in Green to execute his system. Although Green’s first season with the Chiefs was a bit of a debacle, he rebounded from that and started the most consecutive games in franchise history.

Green threw for over 4,000 yards three straight seasons and made the Pro Bowl twice. A severe concussion ended Green’s games played streak at 81, and his career faltered afterwards. A trade to Miami didn’t go how Green or the Dolphins hoped, and Green retired after a final season with the Rams. Green still ranks second all time in franchise history in passing yards & touchdown passes, though he’ll be third in touchdown passes sometime early next season.

3. Alex Smith

Smith arrived in Kansas City with the reputation of being a “game manager”, which is fine but not what San Francisco management & fans wanted from a #1 overall draft pick after eight years in the league. While Smith never became a source of highlight reels, he was a very solid passer that didn’t make mistakes, which was what Andy Reid needed to stabilize things while the organization became what they are today. Smith was selected to the Pro Bowl three times during his five seasons with the Chiefs & never threw more than eight interceptions in a season. His final season in Kansas City saw him throw for 4,042 yards with 26 touchdowns & only 5 interceptions.

Smith was a very smart player and a great person for his successor to learn from. He went to Washington in 2018 and suffered one of the most gruesome leg injuries anybody had ever seen. His return from that injury was as inspirational a story as the NFL had seen in many years, and will be his legacy.

2. Patrick Mahomes

Is it too soon to rank him this high? Absolutely not. Hell, some might argue that he should be on top of the list. Patrick Mahomes has been the Chiefs’ starting quarterback the last three seasons. He has the two highest single season passing yardage & single season touchdown pass totals in franchise history, and likely would have at least made the top four with his other season if not for an injury robbing him of two games & slowing him down for some others. MVP in 2018, Mahomes’ teams have won a Super Bowl, lost a Super Bowl, and lost an AFC Championship game. The Chiefs have become the dominant team in that conference, and there’s no reason to think that’ll change as long as Mahomes is the quarterback.

Even if the worst case scenario happens, Patrick Mahomes will be the second best quarterback in Kansas City Chiefs history. The best case scenario? He’ll be knocking on Tom Brady’s door.

Honorable Mention: Joe Montana

Alex Smith wasn’t the first quarterback to make the move from San Francisco to Kansas City! The 49ers were ready to move on from Montana in 1993, as he’d missed all but one game of the previous two seasons due to an elbow injury. Also, they had Steve Young. The thirty-seven year old Montana made the move to Kansas City, and led the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game in his first season with the team. 1993 also saw Montana’s final Pro Bowl selection. 1994 saw Montana throw for over 3,200 yards in his final season.

Montana with the Chiefs was one of the few times that a legendary quarterback was able to move to a new team late in his career and not fall flat on his face. It seems easier to do now, but it sure wasn’t back in the day.

1. Len Dawson

After uneventful stints with the Steelers & Browns, Dawson signed with the Dallas Texans of the AFL. The connection of Dawson with Hank Stram, who was assistant coach at Purdue during Dawson’s time there worked pretty quickly. The Texans won the AFL Championship in Dawson’s first season with the team. The Texans would move to Kansas City a year later, and Dawson would become the first starting quarterback of the Chiefs. He dominated the AFL, leading the league in passer rating six times, completion percentage seven times and touchdowns four times.

The Chiefs represented the AFL in the Super Bowl twice, losing to the Packers in the first edition and defeating the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. Dawson was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times, was All-Pro twice, and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1987. Dawson still leads the Chiefs in games played and in most passing categories by wide margins all these years later. It’s on the current QB to try & break those records.

Thanks for reading! Next time, we look at one of the Chiefs’ biggest rivals over the years, the Las Vegas Raiders!