49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has been around football and the NFL a long time. He made his coaching debut as a college defensive coordinator in 1995, and he found his way into the NFL in 2006. As primarily a defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator, Wilks has evaluated perhaps every (or almost every?) QB who’s played in the NFL since he entered the league 18 seasons ago. None of them have been better than Chiefs signal caller Patrick Mahomes.
Wilks on Friday in his press conference talked about the challenge of facing Mahomes given his varied, high-level skill set. Within that answer, he called the Chiefs’ QB the best he’s ever seen.
“We definitely have to prepare and be ready,” Wilks said. “It’s different things that we have to do. Number one, he’s doing a tremendous job, really extended plays. We talked all week. It’s two plays within one down. When the ball snaps and then once he starts to scramble. So he’s phenomenal. The best I’ve ever seen for just buying time, winning with his feet and getting the ball where it needs to go down the field.”
The 49ers experienced the danger of that “two plays within one down” in their last Super Bowl run-in with Mahomes. They also got shredded by Mahomes and the Chiefs in Week 7 last season in a 44-23 loss at Levi’s Stadium.
It may be too early to crown Mahomes as the best QB ever depending on a person’s criteria, but it’s impossible to argue he’s not on track to get there. His numbers are prolific, and he’s capable of evolving as a passer to best suit the personnel around him. In six seasons as a starter he’s been to six AFC championship games and four Super Bowls, and he’s still not 30-years old.
Even if someone in February of 2024 wants to say there have been better QBs than Mahomes, history may eventually push everyone toward Wilks’ line of thinking.
