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 no 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 actions that are required of us. First of all, he’s performing quite well, with really long plays. We spoke during the entire week. There are two plays on a single down. After the ball breaks and he begins to scurry. He is hence extraordinary.
The greatest I’ve ever seen at just buying time, winning with his feet, and moving the ball down the field as needed.
During their most recent Super Bowl matchup with Mahomes, the 49ers encountered the risk of having “two plays within one down.” They were also humiliated 44-23 at Levi’s Stadium in Week 7 of the previous season by Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Depending on one’s standards, Mahomes may not yet be the greatest quarterback of all time, but there’s no denying he’s headed in that direction. His stats are impressive, and as a passer, he can adapt to fit the players surrounding him. Despite not even being thirty years old, he has attended four Super Bowls and six AFC championship games in his six seasons as a starter.
Even if someone wishes to assert in February 2024 that there have been superior quarterbacks than Mahomes, history might eventually force everyone to adopt Wilks’ viewpoint.