American Football: Domination

Looking back at last year's draft, the Kansas City Chiefs' Brett Veach worked magic. In dazzling fashion, he maneuvered to grab Lance with the third pick and Patrick Mahomes with the tenth, shocking the league and stealing all the attention of draft day one.

Back then, the season hadn't started yet. Nobody knew how Lance or Mahomes would perform. But Veach's bold play became the league's benchmark, sparking endless debate. From that moment, the spotlight never left the two rookies.

Now, with the regular season complete, everyone finally understood what Veach's moves meant—for Kansas City, and for the league.

Mahomes led the NFL in passing touchdowns with 50, far ahead of the field.

The next closest? Andrew Luck, with 39. The gap was huge.

Of course, was Mahomes perfect?

Not yet.

He was still growing, still raw. He threw 12 interceptions—sixth most in the league. That dragged down his quarterback rating despite everything else shining bright.

His final passer rating: 113.8, second only to the ageless Drew Brees.

Stunning. Borderline insane.

Mahomes burst into the league like Lance before him—two straight seasons of the Chiefs dominating the spotlight.

Looking back, Veach's 2017 draft looks like pure genius. A masterstroke.

Praise hasn't stopped since.

And yet… the quarterback picture overall remained chaotic.

Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Luck, Jared Goff—all had flashes but didn't break through.

Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins—the veterans stood strong, surprising many.

Meanwhile, Deshaun Watson and Dak Prescott were the young standouts.

Even so, Mahomes' explosion stole all the air in the room.

"MVP."

The media shouted it immediately, itching to crown a new king.

From his stats, from Kansas City's record, Mahomes absolutely belonged in the MVP race.

But the voices of dissent lingered.

Last year's controversy hadn't died down.

When quarterbacks underperformed while other positions dominated, the MVP still went to a QB. Was that fair?

Yes, quarterbacks are the brain of football, the most visible and vital spot. But this is a team game. The round-by-round structure makes collective strength matter more than any one position. Praising QBs is fine, but don't ignore everyone else.

Take last year—Lance and Aaron Donald both had MVP-worthy seasons. They deserved recognition just as much as Tom Brady.

And here we were again.

Mahomes was brilliant. But not flawless. And there were others equally brilliant, maybe even more so. Should MVP voting once again lazily orbit only around quarterbacks, ignoring everyone else?

Especially with the biggest controversy of all: the running back debate.

Le'Veon Bell's holdout with Pittsburgh reignited the question. Were running backs really replaceable? Did elite ones truly matter?

Pittsburgh missed the playoffs despite Roethlisberger having a monster passing year. Bell's absence loomed. But opinions split—was it Bell's loss, or bigger systemic issues?

Either way, it fueled one clear idea: football isn't just a quarterback's game. Other positions matter.

And in 2018, others proved it with their play.

Especially the running backs.

The rushing leaders told the story:

Lance, Kansas City Chiefs — 1,667 yards

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys — 1,434 yards

Saquon Barkley, New York Giants — 1,307 yards

Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams — 1,251 yards

Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers — 1,168 yards

Ten running backs cracked 1,000 yards.

Barkley, a rookie. Lance and McCaffrey, just sophomores. Gurley and Elliott, already stars. Veterans like Derrick Henry and Adrian Peterson, too—Peterson's comeback with Washington especially remarkable.

Peterson was written off. Too old, too injured. Especially at running back, a brutal position. But he proved everyone wrong, seizing his eighth career 1,000-yard season.

In his postgame interview, Peterson said simply:

"Thanks to Lance."

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Powerstones?

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