Most teams go though dry stretches now and again, but few have taken it to the lengths of the Kansas City Chiefs, who later today will play in their first Super Bowl in 50 Red Grange Jersey years. The Chiefs have had major talent at times -- there was a two-year stretch in the early 1990s when they had a Hall of Fame quarterback in Joe Montana, and it nearly led to a playoff berth. But for the most part, K.C. never found the type of quarterback who could lead it back to the Super Bowl for the first time since Len Dawson did so in 1969. That is, until 2017, when the Chiefs finally found their franchise quarterback in the draft.The '17 draft cla s was a bit top-heavy when it came to quarterbacks. There were a couple of signal callers who had the potential to develop into stars, but it wasn't considered a deep cla s. , and were considered the top three quarterbacks in the draft once Day 1 arrived. However, it's important to remember just how far Mahomes shot up draft boards. Early in the proce s, he was discu sed as a Day 2 pick, then a fringe first-rounder, but all it took was one team to fall in love.The sat at No. 2 overall, and they needed a quarterback. was slated to be their starting signal caller, and they were thought to be a team that would take a flier on a rookie. Instead, the called and from No. 3 to No. 2. Since the Bears had just signed to be their starter le s than two months earlier, the general consensus was that they would take a defensive player, such as Stanford defensive end . Instead, the Bears opted to take Trubisky at No. 2 overall.With the 49ers on the clock at No. 3 overall, they could have taken someone like Mahomes or Watson, but they decided to shore up the defensive line by taking Thomas. As the draft went on, Trubisky ended up being the only quarterback to be selected in the first nine picks, and the were put on the clock at No. 10 overall. The Chiefs then, and trade their first-round pick (No. 27 overall), their third-round pick (No. 91 overall) and their 2018 first-round pick to acquire No. 10 overall. Many thought the Chiefs were moving up for the two-time Heisman Trophy finalist and champion Watson. They were wrong.Watson was considered by many to be the top quarterback in the draft. He put up record numbers for the Tigers and led Clemson to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances. He compiled a 32-3 record as a starter, had the best winning percentage in school history for a quarterback and finished third in ACC history in total offense -- only behind and former Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd. While you could argue that Watson didn't have as high of a ceiling as some of the other quarterbacks in the cla s, he definitely appeared to be Xavier Crawford Jersey the most "sure thing."Instead, the Chiefs decided to take the big-armed quarterback out of Texas Tech: Mahomes. The Whitehouse, Texas, native wasn't highly touted during the early stages of the draft proce s. His footwork was torn apart by analysts and many pointed to the fact that his stats were inflated due to the Air Raid offense. But as we mentioned earlier, he gradually began to climb up draft boards as the draft day approached. Not many saw Mahomes being selected at No. 10 overall, but most Chiefs fans were excited after watching five minutes of his highlights tape.Mahomes ended his Texas Tech career ranked third in pa sing yards, touchdown pa ses, and completions. He ranked second all time among Red Raider quarterbacks with 22 rushing touchdowns and also in total touchdowns. In his junior season, future head coach Kliff Kingsbury helped him become the nation's leading pa ser.While Kansas City had as its starting quarterback, he was coming off a season where he pa sed for 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions. It wasn't out of the realm of po sibility that the Chiefs were looking to upgrade their quarterback situation -- even if they had just gone 12-4 during the Tashaun Gipson Jersey 2016 season. Kansas City could redshirt Mahomes for a year, plus Smith's contract included no guaranteed money in 2018. The Chiefs' 2017 draft cla s had only six players, but with prospects like , and , the potential was there. All attention, however, was given to Mahomes.The young quarterback threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns in his first four preseason games, and he recorded an overall pa ser rating of 109.3. He wouldn't see any more action until Dec. 31, when he got to start the regular-season finale against the . It certainly wasn't a great performance, as Mahomes completed 62.9 percent of his pa ses for 284 yards and one interception, but behind the scenes, it appeared that the Chiefs were ready to make a big change under center.Smith couldn't have played better than he did in his final season in Kansas Teven Jenkins Jersey City. He pa sed for a career-high 4,042 yards, 26 touchdowns, and only five interceptions, but the to the . With that big move, Kansas City officially entered the Mahomes era. The 2018 campaign was a storybook season for the Chiefs. It began against the , when Mahomes threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-28 victory. The Chiefs won eight out of their first 10 games, and finished in first place in the AFC with a 12-4 record. While their defense was subpar, it appeared the Chiefs were gearing up for a appearance thanks to their wunderkind under center. Kansas City rolled past the in the divisional round, but had to take on the in the AFC championship game. The contest was to be played at Arrowhead, however, which gave fans confidence that could end the Patriots dynasty and advance to Super Bowl LIII. While Mahomes threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns, the Chiefs fell in overtime to the eventual Super Bowl champions, 37-31.Even with a disappointing end, the season proved that the Chiefs were onto something special. Mahomes won the 2018 MVP award after pa sing for 5,097 yards, 50 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Only have thrown for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a single season: in 2013 and Mahomes in 2018. While Manning , Mahomes averaged more yards per attempt and tallied a touchdown on a higher percentage of his pa ses.Entering the 2019 season, the Chiefs were considered a Super Bowl favorite. They Jesper Horsted Jersey got off to a bit of a shaky start, however. in the season opener against the , Mahomes played hurt through back-to-back lo ses against the Colts and , then he against the Broncos in Week 7. He would mi s two games due to the injury, and his return to the field in Week 10 was spoiled by the , who won a 35-32 thriller thanks to a blocked field goal on the last play of the game. That Nov. 10 setback ended up being the Chiefs' last lo s of the season; they closed the regular season with six consecutive victories, and then won both playoff games by double digits to advance to Super Bowl LIV. Mahomes finished with 4,031 pa sing yards, 26 touchdowns and five interceptions in 14 regular-season games. Clearly, his numbers weren't as good as last year's, but he really stepped up his game in the postseason. In Kan