The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t had what most would consider to be a franchise quarterback for 20 years. In 1993, the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, Joe Montana, graced the Chiefs with his presence for his final two years in the NFL. Since Joe Montana announced his retirement the Kansas City Chiefs have been thrown into a quarterback purgatory, but it’s by their own doing. They simply refuse to take a real chance at finding their own franchise quarterback. They haven’t drafted a quarterback in the 1st round in a mind-numbing 31 years and haven’t even drafted one in the 2nd round in 22 years! Since 1995, the Chiefs have had 14 quarterbacks start a game and none of them can be considered a franchise quarterback; let’s take a look at this wondrous list of quarterbacks. 2013 Alex Smith (15) / Chase Daniel (1)  2012 Matt Cassel (8) / Brady Quinn (8)  2011 Matt Cassel (9) / Tyler Palko (4) / Kyle Orton (3)  2010 Matt Cassel (15) / Brodie Croyle (1)  2009 Matt Cassel (15) / Brodie Croyle (1)  2008[e] Brodie Croyle (3) / Tyler Thigpen (11) / Damon Huard (2)  2007 Brodie Croyle (10) / Damon Huard (6)  2006 Trent Green (8) / Damon Huard (8)  2005 Trent Green (16)  2004 Trent Green (16)  2003 Trent Green (16)  2002 Trent Green (16)  2001 Trent Green (16)  2000 Elvis Grbac (15) / Warren Moon (1)  1999 Elvis Grbac (16)  1998 Rich Gannon (10) / Elvis Grbac (6)  1997 Elvis Grbac (10) / Rich Gannon (6)  1996 Steve Bono (13) / Rich Gannon (3)  1995 Steve Bono (16) There are two quarterbacks some of you will look at and say well what about him? While Rich Gannon did provide a spark here in Kansas City, he wasn’t the MVP he’d later become with the Raiders. He went on to have late career success with a Super Bowl caliber Oakland Raiders team under the guidance of Jon Gruden. The other quarterback is Trent Green who was an above average quarterback surrounded with the best offensive line in the NFL at the time and arguably of all-time. Trent also had a great run game with Priest Holmes, Tony Richardson, and a great run blocking tight end in Jason Dunn. Let us not forget the best tight end in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez. The other four long-term starting quarterbacks this franchise has had since 1995 are Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, Matt Cassel, and Alex Smith who have been the epitome of mediocre. Let’s take a look at their stats as Kansas City Chiefs and marvel at how this franchise has continued down this same path for 20 years and counting. Steve “Hard Cadence Hall of Famer/Bonehead” Bono Year G CMP ATT CMP% YDS YDS/G AVG TD INT RAT 1994 7 66 117 56.40% 796 113.71 6.80 4 4 74.60 1995 16 293 520 56.30% 3,121 195.06 6.00 21 10 79.50 1996 14 235 438 53.70% 2,572 183.71 5.90 12 13 68.00 Elvis “Please leave the building” Grbac Year G CMP ATT CMP% YDS YDS/G AVG TD INT RAT 1997 10 179 314 57.00% 1,943 194.30 6.20 11 6 79.10 1998 8 98 188 52.10% 1,142 142.75 6.10 5 12 53.10 1999 16 294 499 58.90% 3,389 211.81 6.80 22 15 81.70 2000 15 326 547 59.60% 4,169 277.93 7.60 28 14 89.90 Matt “Screech Powers” Cassel Year G CMP ATT CMP% YDS YDS/G AVG TD INT RAT 2009 15 271 493 55.00% 2,924 194.93 5.90 16 16 69.90 2010 15 262 450 58.20% 3,116 207.73 6.90 27 7 93.00 2011 9 160 269 59.50% 1,713 190.33 6.40 10 9 76.60 2012 9 161 277 58.10% 1,796 199.56 6.50 6 12 66.70 Alex “Captain Checkdown” Smith Year G CMP ATT CMP% YDS YDS/G AVG TD INT RAT 2013 15 308 508 60.60% 3,313 220.87 6.50 23 7 89.10 2014 15 303 464 65.30% 3,265 217.67 7.00 18 6 93.40 Merry Christmas to you all and maybe, just maybe, someday Santa will bring us a franchise quarterback! Facebook Twitter/X Email Post navigation Chiefs Continue to Serve Fans Christmas-Time Coal Alex Smith OUT vs. Chargers
