When the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes 10th overall in 2017, there were hopes he’d eventually be the franchise passer they’ve been missing for a very long time. Flash forward three years later and what they’ve got is something that could never have been predicted.
In three short seasons, Patrick Mahomes has become the living definition of what an NFL star looks like. Not only is he the franchise quarterback Chiefs fans could only dream of, he’s the face of the NFL, has won a league MVP and a Super Bowl MVP in his first two seasons as a starter, has a laundry list of records that have mounted up over his 39 starts, and he’s the first NFL player to earn a half-billion-dollar contract.
There’s really no other way to describe Mahomes’ on-field play other than it’s just outright amazing and even that sounds like an understatement. To say the least, it’s been a lot of fun watching Patrick Mahomes develop over the course of the past three seasons and see all of the success he’s earned up to this point.
As Mahomes continues to grow as an NFL QB, he was asked to watch some of his game film from 2017 and 2018. Watching his younger self make some of the decisions he made in his first few games as a starter left the 25-year-old shaking his head and made him want to cringe.
“Earlier in my career there are some throws I wouldn’t have made [this season] because they were dumb decisions at the time,” Mahomes said. “There were some throws I hope I still do make. It’s kind of playing with that fine line of being as aggressive as you possibly can but not being overly aggressive. I try to look back on every experience and learn from it. I think there’s a lot of positives along with some negatives that I can learn from,” he explained
“It’s a battle that I have with my nature,” Mahomes continued. “I want to throw it and take the risk every single time. But games, like [against Denver] when we were up a lot of points, you’ve got to realize you don’t have to take that risk whenever your defense is playing like they are and special teams are doing what they do.”
Hearing Mahomes critique his game like this and understanding when he should resort to his arm strength and when to tone it down is a huge sign he’s continuing to grow as a quarterback. In fact, Mahomes’ big pass plays were down before last Sunday’s games against the New York Jets, where Mahomes slung the football for over 400 yards and 5 TDs.
Rather than throwing the ball into coverage, Mahomes has opted for the shorter routes and taking what defenses give him instead. In the first sevens games this season, Mahomes has only made 11 throws of 25 yards or more, and he only made five throws of 25+ yards last week against the Jets.
What’s also gone down is Mahomes’ interception rate. In 2018, his first full season as a starter, Mahomes threw a pick on 2.1% of his pass attempts. That number has decreased to 1% in 2019 and is currently at a league-best 0.4%, having only thrown one interception so far this season.
“He’s fine with that,” Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. “If those guys are going to play in the back end and play deep, he’s the first one to tell you, ‘You know what? They’re not covering them [on shorter routes]. Everybody’s playing deep so I’m going to find an open man [underneath].'”
Rest assured, Although Mahomes is throwing more of the shorter, underneath throws, he’s still a gunslinger at heart.
“He’s a gunslinger,” Bieniemy continued. “He wants to go out there and show exactly what he can do. But he’s doing a better job of taking what is given,” he explained. “[Defensive opponents] are playing far beyond what we expected sometimes. One thing he’s doing, he’s just finding the open guy. Those short- to medium-range [passes], we’ve got some guys that can catch and turn it up and make some special things happen. That just comes with maturity. It also comes with a growth process in understanding what we’re doing but also understands how teams are lining up and playing against us. So kudos to Pat, I’m very proud of where he is right now,” said Bieniemy.
Head Coach Andy Reid also chimed in on Mahomes growth and his ability to spot the open receiver on shorter and intermediate routes.
“You look at the quarterback rating and that and it’s always high for him,” Reid said. “He’s doing a great job there, really managing everything, and I’m proud of the progress that he’s made in so many areas,”.
So far, Mahomes is having arguably his best season yet, with a QBR of 84.5 and a 115.0 passer rating through eight games; this the highest these categories have been in his career.
“But I don’t think he worries about all that,” Reid continued. “He’s OK if the run game works. As long as we’re winning, he’s really good with that. And he’s still going to end up with … the [big] numbers.”
Occasionally, opposing defenses will find a way to beat Mahomes and his offense but none have found a true definitive way to slow down the Chiefs’ offensive attack. In 2019, opposing teams thought playing man defense was Kansas City’s kryptonite until Mahomes learned, adjusted, and now, can pick a man defense apart.
This year, teams have tried blitzing Mahomes only for it to backfire, and now opposing defenses are sending four pass rushers and dropping everyone else in coverage to take away deep passing lanes, only to leave wide-open targets underneath.
“Every year it seems like we’re getting a new scheme or new ways defenses are trying to go about playing us and playing against us,” Mahomes said before the Jets game. “So for us, it’s about being patient now. Being patient with the run game, being patient with the short-passing game, and keep taking what is there. If we’re going to get these 12- to 14-play drives and we’re still scoring touchdowns, they’re just as effective and for us whatever the defense presents to us, we’re going to go against in the best way to have success,” he explained.
Mahomes continued on about the different phases of his career and all the things he’s learned up to this point that have made the quarterback he is today.
“It kind of goes in different phases,” he said. “If you look through my career, at least, especially the beginning of my career, there was a lot of zone coverage and then it became a lot of pressure. Pressure on me and trying to get the ball out of my hands to see if I could pick it up. Last year it started off with zone, then became a lot of press and man coverage, and this year, it’s kind of been deeper zones and not letting us get free releases off the ball, but still playing that zone coverage. Our team is doing a great job of adjusting every single year and making those adjustments quickly to have success and I’m sure we’ll be presented with different stuff as the year goes on and we’re going to take from what we’ve learned and have success.”
Three years in, and Patrick Mahomes has become the quarterback and overall player nobody thought he’d be when he was first drafted. As the 25-year-old prodigy continues to progress in his NFL journey, the better he becomes, and the fact he still hasn’t hit his ceiling should be pretty scary for opposing defensive coordinators and defenses alike.
