From a Red Raider alum: Things you may not know about Patrick Mahomes II

[JDKinman]

The majority of what has been written and publicly discussed about Patrick Mahomes II has focused on his arm and his ability to make plays. As is usual, the national sports media rarely sees beyond their keyboard.

I have a vested interest in this because I consider Kansas City my second home and my adopted hometown. The three years we spent in KC were the best of our career and the good folks of Kansas City took my wife and I in and made us feel more welcome and at home than any other place we have lived. For that, we'll always be grateful and we truly love the city as if we were born and raised there.

Now to Mahomes II.

Those of us who are Texas Tech alumni and supporters see quite a bit more. In no particular importance, I want to share my observations and experiences with Mahomes from the past three years.

1. No off the field issues and probably never will be. Patrick is not just an outstanding athlete, but he is an outstanding young man. In Raiderland, we never had to hold our breath wondering what foolishness he was going to get into. He has a solid moral compass, solid values and his focus--both professionally and socially--is on being a role model fit for both young kids and old grandmothers alike. He will be excellent for the Kansas City community in the way that Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith were active, and he has the boyish personality and "boy next door" persona of Joe Montana.

This is huge for me given as how I'm a retired ad agency and brand guy, the leader of a team has to wear that not just on their sleeve, but in their heart as well. Mahomes will make Kansas Citians proud everywhere he goes.

2. He's smart. Book smart, athletic smart and career smart. This too has been overlooked by the media. During his time at Texas Tech, Mahomes was an Academic All-American. He didn't cut or skip class and have coaches cover for him. (Kliff) Kingsbury doesn't tolerate that. We've lost some good players due to their academic hijinks and/or failures.

Concern over Mahomes' ability to learn an NFL playbook? Zero. Concerns over Mahomes' ability to manage his money rather than letting it manage him and becoming a distraction to the team and city? Zero. Concerns over his hitting an intellectual ceiling so far as being a professional quarterback goes? Zero.

3. He has an uncanny ability to not just read the defense, but to read what is happening on the defense as the play develops--and exploit it. Much of what I've read by sportswriters criticizing Mahomes for a "lack of pocket discipline" has been amusing. Watching six minutes of game film highlights and then penning a story for the press does not give one anywhere near the correct perspective of what Mahomes saw and accomplished on the field.

Tech fans have seen this for three years. Mahomes will see what the defense is doing, audible or adjust the play and then make adjustments on the run. Yes, some of this will need to change in the NFL and he will need to learn when a play cannot be salvaged or saved, but see Point #2 regarding his intelligence. The bigger picture here is that the young man has not only the vision to see what a defense is adjusting or preparing for, but also has the ability to react and counter-attack during the play. In high-scoring Big 12 games, this is critical.

4. Mahomes has the best "full field vision" of any quarterback we've ever had at Tech. Period. If what they say about reincarnation is true, Patrick Mahomes was a bird-of-prey in a previous life. His eyesight and vision is other-worldly when it comes to seeing the entire field. In three years and thousands of yards of passing, we may never have any idea how many touchdowns and first downs were made because he saw the entire field and every single eligible receiver.

Broadcasters are always good at pointing out during a replay the receivers that were open that the quarterback missed. You can go back and review all three years of Mahomes playing at Tech and you won't have more than a handful of those remarks by the broadcasters. The kid has incredible field vision and--

5. He analyzes and decides like a super computer. Maybe faster. This was another thing that kept the Raider faithful enthralled on game days. Mahomes knew who his primary and secondary receivers were, but his ability to read and analyze a defense and then adjust, sometimes even on the fly as the play was unfolding, and then process what was happening and then shift who was NOW the primary and secondary receiver was mind-boggling. Even the Tech receiving corps would shake their heads at how fast he could go from one side of the field as they were covered, to finding them as soon as the defense mistakenly thought they had the play covered, and then find his next set of primary receivers and make the play to them with laser-like accuracy.

He is a zone defense's worst nightmare. Man-on-man coverage is up to the receivers, but defensive coordinators and defensive backs are going to lose a lot of sleep trying to out guess and out-react Mahomes.

6. He is a freakshow of an athlete.This has been touched on, but Mahomes' athleticism goes far beyond his right arm. He's a husky, big kid who is a gym rat and fitness fanatic. He has eye to hand coordination that can fake you out on the football field or dazzle you on the baseball diamond.

7. He's humble. I doubt you'll see entourages or "crews" hanging with every move. Mahomes is self-confident and assured. He's not a Manziel that needed hero-worshippers falling all over him every step of the way. Mahomes gives credit to his coaches and receivers and teammates before he talks about anything he might have done in the game. Too much of that gets edited out by the sports writers and broadcasters, but this young man is the consummate team player and a natural leader.

In conclusion, I wanted to share these thoughts, views and experiences from the past three years of thoroughly enjoying Mahomes in a Texas Tech jersey. That he is trading Texas Tech red for Kansas City red. . . Christmas came in April and is now running non-stop for as long as this outstanding young man calls Arrowhead Stadium home.

Best regards,

--JD

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Was just thinking...there is no way I am missing camp now. First time in YEARS I have a reason to go.

I've never gone to camp. I hated it in Wisconsin but even when its in Missou hard to go with low caliber quarterbacks so now this is something I really want to do this year and hope get up there if possible.

[Bwana]

Good post.

[MahiMike]

Was just watching thinking about how great of an organization we have here and how lucky we are. Look at how many teams would simply SIT on the 3rd most winning QB in the league. The Chiefs look at that (and all those playoff appearances) and say, "Screw that! Let's go for it".

Only the best of organizations think like that.

We are blessed.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Was just thinking...there is no way I am missing camp now. First time in YEARS I have a reason to go.

I envy thee.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Originally Posted by MahiMike

Was just watching thinking about how great of an organization we have here and how lucky we are. Look at how many teams would simply SIT on the 3rd most winning QB in the league. The Chiefs look at that (and all those playoff appearances) and say, "Screw that! Let's go for it".

Only the best of organizations think like that.

We are blessed.

Yeah, We try to be like that at least every 34 years.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

I've never gone to camp. I hated it in Wisconsin but even when its in Missou hard to go with low caliber quarterbacks so now this is something I really want to do this year and hope get up there if possible.

I expect the crowds in St Joe are going to be overflowing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ChiefAshhole1056]

Originally Posted by notorious

After watching Alex miss wide open receivers all over the field, this excites me the most.

Can only imagine the bomb that Mahomes would've released there for Tyreek.

[ct]

Originally Posted by MahiMike

You are 1 post away from my ban list.

it wont matter if you ban him, there are still too many dipshits that fall for his trolling and continually QUOTE EVERY ****ING POST that you still cant get rid of his bullshit

thank you.

[ct]

Originally Posted by raybec 4

How many times do you guys have to be reminded that Hill wasn't open on that play? Look at the safety there, he's 15 yards from Hill and standing still. When he starts to run toward the LOS he's just baiting Smith into making that throw. You guys just don't see the strategy here. If Smith makes that throw it's a walk in TD. How in the hell is that good for the team? By running out of bounds he set us up for a potential hidden touchdown with his gigabytes and game changing accuracy on the bubble screen to Maclin that he also didn't throw because the corner was within 8 yards with no other defender within 20.

youre ****ing stupid if you dont see the point

if alex sees that developing 1 second after teh snap and lofts it on the left hash over the S head, it's a td

EDIT: i'm and idiot, my bad

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by ct

youre ****ing stupid if you dont see the point

if alex sees that developing 1 second after teh snap and lofts it on the left hash over the S head, it's a td

Looks like you might need to adjust your sarcasm detector.

[ct]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Looks like you might need to adjust your sarcasm detector.

GD-it

rebooting...

also, i should finish reading the post. got halfway in and jumped his shit

my bad

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by mdchiefsfan

An interesting tidbit in regards to his footwork, I thought, was in the Gruden's Camp video. He was discussing his throw off his back foot, while running to his left, to the back left of the end zone, and said something along the lines of," That is the Short Stop coming out of me." I found that interesting, and that throw is much like a SS throwing to first after a slow-roller.

Now, I am sure Mahomes isn't the first baseball/football player to play QB, but it may actucally give him so leeway on his footwork in the sense of consistency. If that is the case, the footwork is actually intentional and developed, and doesn't appear to affect his accuracy.

Russell Wilson and John Elway spring immediately to mind. Then some busts like Drew Henson, Kaepernick, Chad Hutchison and Brandon Weedon.

But most were pitchers. Elway was an OFer, IIRC so he wouldn't have had that flick release that infielders learn. Wilson's the only other infielder I can think of but I'm certain all those premier athletes also played something on their off days growing up. Most of the time your best pitcher will also play some OF or 3b; SS isn't as common.

He's absolutely right, though. I played SS as a kid and to this day I can throw a ball nearly as accurately from damn near underhand as I can straight over the top. And from a bunch of different arm angles. It's just what you get used to because your body can take you in a bunch of different angles and you need to be able to throw quickly from all of them.

So that's a pretty genuine comment, IMO. If a guy's spent a lot of time on the infield, he's gonna have a variable arm. That said, I disagree with the idea that he doesn't need to fix his feet or even some of his release. That kind of stuff is fine as a necessary option, but there's less margin for error on those throws. If your release point is off by much at all, you've gone completely heywire whereas a normal release is usually only off in a single direction.

Mahomes absolutely has to realize that any time he CAN set his feet and fire conventionally, he should. He doesn't seem to understand that right now or at least consistently practice it. He does some things that are just a little lazy and if he does them often enough, that's trouble. He can't just take a sidearm flip if coming over the top with a solid base is available to him. And no, his feet aren't right nearly as often as some are saying - they're really really bad. Like, arguably the worst in the draft bad. He has to fix that and quickly because if your platform isn't sound, you can never be confident where the ball is going, especially under duress.

But that's okay - if the dude has the right footwork already, he'd have gone #1 overall. The warts are why we were able to get him. It's just important that we not ignore them because we want this guy to succeed. The only way he WILL succeed is if the coaching staff fixes those faults.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by raybec 4

How many times do you guys have to be reminded that Hill wasn't open on that play? Look at the safety there, he's 15 yards from Hill and standing still. When he starts to run toward the LOS he's just baiting Smith into making that throw. You guys just don't see the strategy here. If Smith makes that throw it's a walk in TD. How in the hell is that good for the team? By running out of bounds he set us up for a potential hidden touchdown with his gigabytes and game changing accuracy on the bubble screen to Maclin that he also didn't throw because the corner was within 8 yards with no other defender within 20.

In fairness, he didn't just run out of bounds.

He missed the throw downfield to Ware.

[DRM08]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Russell Wilson and John Elway spring immediately to mind. Then some busts like Drew Henson, Kaepernick, Chad Hutchison and Brandon Weedon.

But most were pitchers. Elway was an OFer, IIRC so he wouldn't have had that flick release that infielders learn. Wilson's the only other infielder I can think of but I'm certain all those premier athletes also played something on their off days growing up. Most of the time your best pitcher will also play some OF or 3b; SS isn't as common.

He's absolutely right, though. I played SS as a kid and to this day I can throw a ball nearly as accurately from damn near underhand as I can straight over the top. And from a bunch of different arm angles. It's just what you get used to because your body can take you in a bunch of different angles and you need to be able to throw quickly from all of them.

So that's a pretty genuine comment, IMO. If a guy's spent a lot of time on the infield, he's gonna have a variable arm. That said, I disagree with the idea that he doesn't need to fix his feet or even some of his release. That kind of stuff is fine as a necessary option, but there's less margin for error on those throws. If your release point is off by much at all, you've gone completely heywire whereas a normal release is usually only off in a single direction.

Mahomes absolutely has to realize that any time he CAN set his feet and fire conventionally, he should. He doesn't seem to understand that right now or at least consistently practice it. He does some things that are just a little lazy and if he does them often enough, that's trouble. He can't just take a sidearm flip if coming over the top with a solid base is available to him. And no, his feet aren't right nearly as often as some are saying - they're really really bad. Like, arguably the worst in the draft bad. He has to fix that and quickly because if your platform isn't sound, you can never be confident where the ball is going, especially under duress.

But that's okay - if the dude has the right footwork already, he'd have gone #1 overall. The warts are why we were able to get him. It's just important that we not ignore them because we want this guy to succeed. The only way he WILL succeed is if the coaching staff fixes those faults.

Agree with you on everything. Pat would have gone #1 overall if he had good footwork and mechanics. It's a blessing in disguise that he had these flaws because now he is in the hands of a proven QB whisperer who will hopefully get the most out of him. They have a lot of work to do and now we just have to see how it all plays out.

Believe I read somewhere that Aaron Rodgers was a shortstop in Little League and it has definitely helped him as a quarterback to make those throws in scrambling situations.

Also will point out Kaep was nowhere near as accurate in college as Mahomes. You can see why Harbaugh wanted Kaep. 38 on the Wonderlic, 95 mph baseball arm, 4.5 speed in the 40, etc. But it turned out his accuracy problems and inability to read defenses limited his effectiveness in the NFL.

Weeden never showed an ability to throw on the run. He had a big arm but he was a 100% pocket passer and he was also surrounded by some big time talent like Justin Blackmon. Weeden was also ancient in terms of age for a college QB. That limited his upside in a big way compared to a guy like Mahomes who does have that unique accuracy/velocity in scrambling situations and is a true junior at 21 years old. Weeden was 28 years old on Draft Day 2012.

Pat has a ton to learn and fix in his game, but that also means the upside potential is very exciting if the coaches can help him fix some of his issues.

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by ct

GD-it

rebooting...

also, i should finish reading the post. got halfway in and jumped his shit

my bad

No worries at all.