Kiper says Mahomes has highest QB ceiling

Patrick Mahomes hasn’t been linked to the Browns often when the top quarterbacks are mentioned.

The subject is all quarterback, all the time in Browns Nation now that the start of the draft at 8 p.m. on April 27 is hours away instead of weeks.

Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech hasn’t been linked to the Browns often when the top quarterbacks are mentioned. But he has the highest ceiling of the bunch, according to Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN. com.

“He can sling it,” Kiper said during a conference call on April 24. “He has a heck of an arm. He’s adept at throwing the deep ball. He can move around. He has very under-rated mobility.

“He has no conscience about him. I always say, you can’t fear interceptions. You can’t fear making mistakes. The only way to make big plays is taking some chances downfield. The dinking and dunking makes you sick. The way he plays is invigorating.”

Mahomes (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) threw 41 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions for the Red Raiders last fall. He threw 93 touchdown passes and 29 interceptions over three seasons before deciding to skip his final year of eligibility.

Draft analysts conclude Mahome’s numbers are inflated because he played in a spread offense at Texas Tech while operating exclusively out of the shotgun. He could be a boom-or-bust quarterback because of that. But when being interviewed by skeptical coaches and general managers, he tried to

convince them he will succeed in a pro-style offense.

“I just show them my knowledge for the game,” Mahomes said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “That’s the only way I can prove it wrong. You look back at the system quarterback, a lot of guys didn’t work out.

“So for me, it’s just going to be about proving those guys wrong, going out there and really showing my knowledge of the game and just competing. It’ll all show up when you get to the field.”

The Browns could take defensive end Myles Garrett of Texas A&M with the first pick then should be able to go right back to the Lone Star State and get Mahomes at No. 12, according to draft forecasts. Waiting for Mahomes at the top of the second round with the 33rd pick could be risky.

“He’s got a great arm, (confidence) and he’s mobile,” an unnamed NFC executive told Lance Zierlein of NFL.com. “He is going to drive his head coach crazy for the first couple of

years and there is no getting around that. If it clicks for him and he’s coachable, I think he could become a special quarterback.”

The Browns put Mahomes through a private workout in their draft preparation. They did the same for Mitchell Trubisky, Deshaun Watson and DeShone Kizer.

“The (Texas Tech) system, I get all that, but Jared Goff went No. 1 overall out of a similar system,” said Kiper, referring to the quarterback from Cal the Rams took with the first draft

pick in 2016. “Mahomes is the hot guy right now at the quarterback position. Make no mistake about that.

“Everybody’s talking this guy up for obvious reasons. I’d be really surprised if he doesn’t go in the first round of the draft.”

Kiper expects Mahomes to go in the mid- to late first round. He has the Arizona Cardinals taking Mahomes with the 13th pick. Kiper’s cohort at ESPN, Todd McShay, has Mahomes going to the Saints with the last pick in the first round.