QB Mahomes gets a hand after showing off arm
Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes showed off his arm strength for a crowd of NFL teams at Lubbock Friday and closed out an impressive workout with a 78-yard Hail Mary throw.
After operating primarily out of the shotgun in the Red Raiders’ Air Raid offense, Mahomes took snaps from center during an audition for teams that included San Francisco general manager John Lynch and 49ers executives Adam Peters and Martin Mayhew, Seattle general manager John Schneider and New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo, who rarely attends pro days and spent time meeting with Mahomes on Thursday.
The Texans took in Mahomes’ workout, sending an area scout along with assistant coach and former Texas Tech standout Wes Welker. The Texans own the 25th overall pick and have displayed steady interest in Mahomes during the draft process.
One NFL scout who attended the workout, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mahomes “had a very good day and showed me a lot of arm and accuracy on most of his throws.”
Mahomes displayed improved footwork and a command of several throws. That included the dig, corner, comeback, curls, posts and fade routes. Mahomes overthrew a few deep balls but generally performed well.
Twenty-eight teams were on hand in Lubbock. The only teams that didn’t attend were the Cincinnati Bengals, whose quarterbacks coach, Bill Lazor, worked out Mahomes privately Wednesday, along with the Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles.
Mahomes is scheduled for a league-high 18 total visits and private workouts. He already has worked out for the Los Angeles Chargers; Arizona Cardinals, including coach Bruce Arians and team president Michael Bidwill; New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton; and the Cleveland Browns, according to sources not authorized to speak publicly.
“Just the progress I’ve made on the field so far,” Mahomes said. “I think the best quality is the passion I have for the game. Today’s the day that I finally realized, ‘You moved on, it’s time for the next step.’ ”
Mahomes passed for 5,052 yards and 41 touchdowns last season . He completed 65.7 percent of his throws and had 10 interceptions.