MAHOMES WHO IS THIS CHIEFS GUNSLINGER?
No quarterback has burst on the NFL scene quite so spectacularly as the second-year man in Kansas City
Who is Patrick Mahomes, and how in the world is he performing like a superstar after just four NFL starts?
Of all the wow-factor career debuts we’ve seen from promising young quarterbacks over the past couple of years, none has scintillated out of the gates quite like the second-year Kansas City Chiefs quarterback.
Last Sunday, Mahomes became the first NFL player to throw 13 touchdowns passes in the first three weeks of a season. Never been done. Furthermore, he’s yet to throw an interception.
He’s been the real deal. With his arm. His feet. His vision. His creativity. His savvy. His poise. His leadership. All of it.
“The sky’s the limit for him,” Chiefs head coach and chief offensive strategist Andy Reid said. “Just have to keep grinding.”
The 23-year-old’s next chance to impress comes Monday night in his fifth career start when he leads the 3-0 Chiefs to Denver to take on the 2-1 Broncos. Denver head coach Vance Joseph was asked what makes Mahomes so special so early in his fledgling NFL career, and he added to the above attributes with his own glowing report.
“He’s fearless. He takes chances, but it’s aggressive chances and it’s worked out for him. He’s a young guy who’s playing like a veteran player. He hasn’t made mistakes with the ball. He hasn’t been hit a lot, so his timing is really good. He’s a pretty good athlete, also. He’s escaping the pocket when the pressure does arrive. And he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now.” That he is.
With Mahomes replacing the dealt-away Alex Smith at the Chiefs’ pivot position, Reid seems to have sprinkled even more razzle-dazzle into his aggressive, defence-taxing attack.
In such a scheme, Mahomes’ talents seem far better suited than Smith’s to utilize the uncommon collection of particularly elusive and speedy backs and receivers the Chiefs have assembled, starting with running back Kareem Hunt and wideout Tyreek Hill. That’s because Mahomes is unafraid to sling it deep, unlike Smith, and is really good at it.
So unless — or at least until — league defences get a better handle on how to stop, or limit, the things Mahomes does so well, and discover throws he might not be as good at, or maybe doesn’t even like to attempt, Mahomes figures to continue to radiate week after week.
“He’s not trying to be the hero,” Reid said. “That’s not his deal. He’s trying to play the position within the offence and do his thing. If things don’t work out, then he moves around and finds a way to get it in his guys’ hands as fast as he can. He has a pretty good feel for that.”
Here are three things you need to know about Mahomes.
1. He wasn’t expected to be so good, so soon.
That’s a fact. Go back and read the pre-draft rankings and assessments of quarterback prospects last year for proof. No one, maybe not even Reid, saw this coming from Mahomes so quick.
The native of Whitehouse, Texas, starred in college in the pass-happy, shotgun spread attack at Texas Tech University. Those words — “shotgun spread attack” — have (or at least had) become a mark of discredit on any prospective NFL passer’s resume this century. They were called “gimmicky-system” college quarterbacks.
Mahomes looked spectacular in Texas Tech’s passing spread. He started 29 games from 2014-16, completing 64 per cent of his throws for 93 touchdowns, a whopping 352 yards per appearance (a stat diminished by five non-starts) and more than eight yards per attempt. He also threw 29 interceptions.
By the time the four-month 2016 pre-draft vetting process of prospects concluded in late April, most top evaluators slotted Mahomes third or fourth among QBs, behind Mitchell Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and DeShone Kizer. At least one draftnik, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke, ranked Mahomes No. 2.
Greg Cosell of NFL Films, like many, viewed Mahomes as someone unlikely to contribute much early on. His bottom line on Mahomes was he was too rough around the edges.
“The true definition of the word prospect,” Cosell wrote in his official, point-form, pre-draft analysis of Mahomes. “A talented thrower with an NFL arm and the ability to drive the ball and throw with touch, but lacking any refinement and polish for the position. A sandlot-andplayground player at this point. Will initially struggle with the disciplines of playing under centre. How difficult will it be to lose that freewheeling, gunslinger mentality?”
The Chiefs, despite having the then 33-year-old Smith seemingly in the prime of his career, surprised many when they traded up to grab the No. 10 overall pick from the Buffalo Bills. With it, they chose Mahomes.
The Chiefs brought in all the top draft-class passers for visits, but Reid said the club liked no one more than Patrick Lavon Mahomes II. The only QB off the board at that point was Trubisky, who went No. 2 overall to Chicago.
Teams seen in need of a top QB prospect who passed on Mahomes in that top 10 included the Cleveland Browns, the Bears, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets and, by virtue of trading the No. 10 pick, the Bills.
“Right now, Patrick is not absolutely ready to play. He’s got some work to do, but he’s coming into a great room. He gets an opportunity to learn from Alex Smith. So we have to be patient with him. Definitely, not a finished product right now. But he has tremendous upside,” Reid said at the time.
“We think he’ll fit into this offence very well. He’s a good person. He’s intelligent. He’s got great skill. And I just think he’ll be a great Kansas City Chiefs player when it’s all said and done.”
Long-term project indeed. Or so it seemed.
2.
He had an unexpected career-accelerating rookie start.
Because the Chiefs clinched the AFC West division title a week before the end of the regular season last year, and because their No. 4 playoff seeding was set in stone, Reid decided to rest Smith for their Week 17 game at Denver, directing him instead to work with offensive co-ordinator Matt Nagy (now the Chicago Bears head coach) and Chiefs assistant head coach Brad Childress on preparing for K.C.’s potential wild-card playoff opponents.
That paved the way for Mahomes to make his first pro start, under Reid’s direct guidance throughout the week.
In Denver, the Chiefs won 27-24 on a 30-yard, game-ending field-goal that culminated a 67-yard, 11-play drive in which Mahomes completed 4-of-6 passes for 52 yards.
Mahomes performed solidly in Denver, putting up good numbers for a first-time rookie starter: 22-of-35 for 284 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
“Listen, for a young quarterback coming up, he’s going about it the right way and spends a ton of time doing it,” Reid said of Mahomes’ preparation. “He’s not banking on the skill that he’s been blessed with. He’s trying to get himself to be the best, and by doing that, spending that time, it pays off in situations like this.”
3.
He has natural athleticism and was a star in baseball, too.
It’s fairly well known Mahomes is the son of former Major League Baseball player Pat Mahomes, a pitcher from 19922003 with the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Although primarily raised by his divorced mother, Randi, Mahomes has always maintained a close relationship with his famous father. As a multi-sport high school athlete, Patrick II earned renown in baseball as much as, or more than, football. He once threw a no-hitter and struck out 16.
He wasn’t drafted until the 37th round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers, but by then, he’d made it known to all baseball folk that despite possessing a 95 mph fastball, football was his No. 1 sport.
“My dad played football in high school. He was all-state,” Mahomes told Sports Illustrated. “But he never really loved it. For me, though, football was my love.”
Mahomes’ passing talents, instincts, daring and athleticism were all on display in Sunday’s 38-27 win over San Francisco, but especially on two plays just a couple of minutes apart.
On the third of K.C.’s five firsthalf touchdown drives in five possessions, Mahomes saw the speedy Hill was double-covered deep, but threw it up to him anyway, trusting the amazing receiver to go up and get it. Hill did so for a 42-yard gain.
Three snaps later, Mahomes dropped back, rolled far to his left under duress, instantly circled on a dime back to his right to avoid a sacker, outran him and other defenders as he made his way cross-field to the right side and, while still sprinting, spotted receiver Chris Conley racing across the back of the end zone. Mahomes didn’t hesitate to rip a hard, accurate throw square into Conley’s hands for the touchdown.
Shooting-star QB wonders — that is, young phenoms or backups who loudly impress over a limited, brief period of time, like cheap fireworks — have filled NFL skies for decades. You know them, names like Scott Mitchell, Rob Johnson, Don Majkowski, and Robert Griffin.
No one knows whether Mahomes can avoid so dastardly a fate. So far, he’s looking far more like a superstar than a shooting star.