Kansas City Chiefs: All-Decade Team for 2010s
With the 2010s nearing the end, let’s build an all-decade team for the Kansas City Chiefs. Who were the best Chiefs between 2010-2019?
The 2020s are almost here and that means it’s time for a wide array of “best of the decade” posts. On that note, we here at KC Kingdom decided to tackle putting together a 2010s all-decade team for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The three who helped put this together were Leigh Oleszczak, Kole Berrey, and Cullen Jekel, who worked together to come up with the best possible list. So, how this works is we’ll go over every position on the team and pick who would be the starter at that position if this team were to go into a game. We also chose at least one alternate for just about every position, but some were difficult to do that for.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the 2010s All-Decade Chiefs team!
2010S ALL-DECADE TEAM – QUARTERBACK
STARTER: PATRICK MAHOMES
ALTERNATE: ALEX SMITH
It should come as no surprise that Patrick Mahomes is the Chiefs starting quarterback on the all-decade team, with Alex Smith serving as the alternate. It wasn’t that way in 2017, as Smith was the starter and Mahomes, then a rookie, was gracing the sidelines, but that’s not how this list works.
While I’d entertain hearing why people would advocate for Smith being the starter on this list, Mahomes is the clear choice. He threw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in his first full year as a starter and got the Chiefs to their first AFC Championship Game since the 1993 season. Oh yeah, and he won the MVP award that year.
Mahomes is the franchise quarterback that Chiefs fans have been dreaming about for their entire lives. He makes insane throws that are out of this world and had an injury not forced him to miss two games in 2019, he’d probably have been a strong frontrunner to repeat as the league MVP.
So yes, Patrick Mahomes would obviously be the QB1 if the all-decade team were to go out there and play a game.
Smith was great too though and did so much for the Kansas City Chiefs during his five years in our wonderful city. Smith, a former number one overall pick in 2005, was traded to the Chiefs in 2013 and helped turn things around after this team posed the league’s worst record.
Smith went 50-26 as a starter while throwing for 17,608 yards, 102 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions. He was a wonderful quarterback to have during the regular season because he’d win you games and get you to the playoffs. The playoffs were another story, however, as he’d typically struggle and shoulder a lot of the blame.
While some could attempt to debate who was the starter and who was the alternate here, one thing is for certain and that’s that no other Chiefs quarterback from 2010-2019 should even be contemplated for this list.