re: More important to respective teams for next 10 years: Mahomes or Zion?

One of these already has a SB win and MVP with a suspect D and is the best QB in the game. Has Reid and almost the same team plus CEH. The other is Zion. Stuck in Nawlins. And unlikely to win anything meaningful there.

I know this is all projecting but, in terms of degree of importance to respective team, Zion’s ceiling is incredibly high, he’s a sure thing player using Bill Simmons’ words and we’re getting a taste of that now. As far as Mahomes is concerned, obviously QB is the most important position in that sport and he’ll continue his high importance until that defense becomes semi-elite because essentially that offense has to outscore the opponent many times, it’ll be fluid because he doesn’t play defense but he’s the difference there.

quote:

---

QB is the most important position in all of sports

---

What about what Larry Bird did his first season, transforming a 29-win team to a 61-win team in one season? Kareem with Milwaukee? Hakeem with the Rockets? Shaq with the Magic his first season? Etc. I completely understand the intellectual part of the QB position and what it entails but think describing it as the "most important position in all of sports" is completely overblown.

quote:

---

I always lean to the basketball player, 5 starters vs 22

---

this could easily be argued the other way. in basketball, you could have any one of 5 guys making the kind of impact that a quarterback makes. it doesn't really matter what position they play, especially when the elite of the elite basketball players are essentially position proof.

in football, there are 22 starters, but only one that can even really possibly have that kind of impact. in basketball, you can have 2 mahomes. you can have 2 mahomes and a watson. You can have a mahomes, a watson, and a jackson. in fact, in this current era of the NBA, you almost have to have that. you can't have that in football. the drop off from quarterback to what, edge rusher?, is insane in value and importance.

ill take mahomes for this question and i don't personally see how it is anyone else in all of sports.

sure, all fair points. i wasn't really trying to optimize nba roster construction or get into the weeds on that, necessarily.

i was more just pointing out the general idea that 5 vs. 22 players doesn't automatically mean that 1 of the 22 can't be more important than 1 of the 5. the sports are entirely different and the quarterback is light years more important than any other position in football. there is no "position" in basketball that is any more important than any other (at the superstar level that is being discussed) and any of the 5 players can be your mahomes.

quote:

---

lol a QB is only on the field for about 40% of the game

---

And their degree of importance really hinges on the competence of their team's defense because it determines whether they have to be really prolific every single week to outscore the opponent or they can submit lackluster to bad performances and still prevail, the days of two-way football players are long gone