NFL Top 25 under 25 according to ESPN
1. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
Turns 25: Sept. 17, 2020
With 37 touchdown passes, Mahomes is on pace to throw nearly 54 of them this season, which would break the record of 50 set by Tom Brady in 2007. Offense is up across the league, but Mahomes is still outpacing the other leading MVP candidates. Andrew Luck (32), Drew Brees (29), Philip Rivers (26) and Jared Goff (26) are his nearest challengers for scoring passes.
"He makes the same throws as Aaron Rodgers and is a great kid," an evaluator said. "He can do it from any platform. It's just fun to watch."
2. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Turns 25: March 1, 2019
If a scientist in an NFL laboratory could combine Devin Hester with DeSean Jackson, would the new creation be as good as Hill?
"Tyreek Hill is a really elite return man and a really effective every-down wide receiver who is an elite deep threat and can also run all the special plays -- the jet sweeps, reverses, those things," a veteran coach said. "Can you name another guy like that? They also have a unique situation with the synergy between the back, the tight end, the wide receiver and the elite playcaller. You run out of skill defenders to take care of all the matchup problems."
5. Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Turns 25: Aug. 6, 2020
Remember way back in the 2017 preseason, when the Chiefs lost running back Spencer Ware to a serious knee injury? I was in the Seattle press box for the Chiefs-Seahawks game that night and remember thinking Kansas City could be in some trouble at the position. A week earlier, while attending the Chiefs-Bengals preseason game mainly to see Mahomes, I had ridden in a stadium elevator packed with Chiefs fans wearing No. 27 jerseys. Could Hunt's own family have foreseen what the 2017 third-round pick would become?
"He has breakaway speed and unique receiving skills, and then is the beneficiary of a playcaller who knows how to use all the weapons," an exec said. "I'm just a huge Hunt fan. Like Christian McCaffrey, he runs and catches."
