MILLER: It Is Officially Time to Buy the Hype on Patrick Mahomes

[pugsnotdrugs19]

I know this was posted in the Mahomes thread, but a lot of you hate mega threads and might miss this piece otherwise so, here it is: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...atrick-mahomes

READ THE ARTICLE HERE:

Spoiler!

Every so often, a player comes along with expectations so high that it's almost impossible for him to live up to them. Jadeveon Clowney after he destroyed that poor Michigan running back comes to mind. Even as he's developed into one of the best defenders in the NFL, people still consider him overrated.

Living up to the hype is tough. And if you're a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, you've picked a side when it comes to the potential of second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes II.

General manager Brett Veach didn't help matters when he, in a post-draft press conference this year, called Mahomes "one of the best players I've ever seen." Some will see a GM confident in his selection (and the trade up to get Mahomes) the previous year. Others see a bar set impossibly high for a player with one career start before the team shipped off incumbent Alex Smith to clear the way for him.

Is the hype real? That's a question I asked many of the Chiefs front office staff, coaches and players.

"Oh, it's real" said a member of the coaching staff. "We've been watching him for a year and he just keeps getting better and better. Sure, there are mistakes, but there are also plays I've never seen a quarterback make before."

Something you hear a lot from people inside the organization: "He makes plays unlike anything we've ever seen before."

Great quarterbacks are often defined by their ability to create, make plays and make the people around them better. One source in the scouting staff pointed back to how well Mahomes did against the Chiefs' starting defense last year while "playing with a bunch of practice squad receivers" and noted "he's torching [Marcus Peters]."

The Chief aren't doing much to dampen expectations. They've watched Mahomes develop from an air raid quarterback with unreal physical gifts into a legitimate starting QB in only a year. One member of the staff went as far to say that barring injury, Mahomes has the tools to be a top-10 NFL quarterback at season's end.

What makes him so special?

The staff raves about his arm strength, athleticism and, per one assistant coach, "that It factor where he just knows where to put the ball. It's all that stuff we saw at [Texas] Tech that made us fall in love with his game, but now he's a year smarter."

Mahomes' pre-draft scouting report was full of praise for his arm strength—which might be the best in the entire league—and his ability to create plays on the move with his athleticism. The biggest question mark was his ability to translate to a pro-style offense, but the Chiefs solved that issue by drafting and stashing Mahomes behind Alex Smith so he could learn and develop.

The Chiefs coaching personnel only amps up the Hahomes hype. Head coach Andy Reid is considered by many to be the best quarterback mentor in the game. And they got to be patient with Mahomes while he worked with former offensive coordinator/current Chicago Bears' head coach Matt Nagy all of last season. Mahomes' time with those coaches and behind Smith allowed him to catch up mentally after coming into the NFL with a lot to learn. Now he's ready to take off.

How good can the Chiefs be this year? A rival general manager thought they would "win between seven and nine games, depending on the defense." Other scouts and coaches told Bleacher Report the Chiefs will go "as far as Mahomes can take them".

The pressure is on the second-year quarterback to carry Kansas City farther than his predecessor could in multiple playoff berths.

For the hype to be real, Mahomes will have to deliver in January. but according to those who've seen him daily for the past year, he's ready.


Matt Miller covers the NFL and NFL draft for Bleacher Report.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by threebag02

Might want to dust off the Autographed Phillip Gaines Jersey

Are you suggesting that Dieter, Kemp, etc. were likely getting good separation against Peters, Mitchell, Nelson, etc.? Because I highly, highly doubt that.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by O.city

I kind of wish they'd slow it down a bit.

Wbf

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by O.city

I kind of wish they'd slow it down a bit.

Where have I heard this before?

[Hydrae]

I can't believe the number of comments at the end of some of these articles about the OTA session where there were a few interceptions. The lack of reading comprehension is amazing. People seem to not understand that Andy clearly states that they were trying some new things to see what would work or not. So even the coaches did not know if these plays would work; they were testing things that looked good on paper. Some of them failed. Shocking! I don't think this says a lot about Mahomes. Just that the new plays they were trying out that did not work as well as they thought they might.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

I can't believe the number of comments at the end of some of these articles about the OTA session where there were a few interceptions. The lack of reading comprehension is amazing. People seem to not understand that Andy clearly states that they were trying some new things to see what would work or not. So even the coaches did not know if these plays would work; they were testing things that looked good on paper. Some of them failed. Shocking! I don't think this says a lot about Mahomes. Just that the new plays they were trying out that did not work as well as they thought they might.

It's not like those people have read, or even care to read about Andy's comments. Only real Chiefs fans would know that.

And people don't expect poor days in OTA's. They're the light workouts in gym shorts, so people expect raving reviews, not struggles.

It's understandable why the less informed peasants would react the way they do.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by O.city

I kind of wish they'd slow it down a bit.

Andy has nothing to lose at this point. He’s nearing the final part of his career and he can only make it better.

Might as well swing away with a kid like Mahomes to try to put yourself over the top.

[Simply Red]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm forcing myself not to get too excited because...Chiefs. He'll have to prove it to me in legit games against legit defenses. But man...he's the best chance we've had at building a legitimate, perennial contender in my lifetime.

Good post - I must 'this' this - if i may.

[Simply Red]

testing new signature.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm forcing myself not to get too excited because...Chiefs. He'll have to prove it to me in legit games against legit defenses. But man...he's the best chance we've had at building a legitimate, perennial contender in my lifetime.

At this point I just want to see some “how the hell is that even possible?” type throws. If we come together and look like we can rock some shit then fine. But at this point, give me some fireworks and that will hold me over.

[srvy]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I'm forcing myself not to get too excited because...Chiefs. He'll have to prove it to me in legit games against legit defenses. But man...he's the best chance we've had at building a legitimate, perennial contender in my lifetime.

This is right where I am. Many on this forum have Canonized 2PM but I am waiting a lot can happen and being the Chiefs it usually does. Sho Me!

[JakeF]

Defenses adapt to a QB after 4 or 5 games so we have to wait until we see what happens after that.

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

It's not like those people have read, or even care to read about Andy's comments. Only real Chiefs fans would know that.

And people don't expect poor days in OTA's. They're the light workouts in gym shorts, so people expect raving reviews, not struggles.

It's understandable why the less informed peasants would react the way they do.

In this case I was referring to comments on this article: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...ont-worry-reid

This is in that article:

No, and I've mentioned this to you guys before when Alex [Smith] was here and so on, these are camps where you want to test," Reid said when asked if the interceptions were worrisome. "We throw in a lot of new stuff so you want to test what you can get away with in these camps, so you're going to have interceptions. That doesn't bother me. If you repeat it, now that's a problem but you want to test it and see what you can get away with. That's all a part of the way this thing works."

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by threebag02

"Torching last years Defense" that's sad it was written into the article.

yeah im sure youre really sad that mahomes is going to make your Boyfriend alex look like the average QB that he is


boo ****ing hoo, pussy

[oldman]

I have 2 concerns. First, the kid is going to make some bonehead mistakes because of his confidence in his arm strength. After years of few turnovers under Smith, this is going to cause some fans to go absolutely batshit crazy. To that I'll just say Brett Favre probably fattened some shrinks wallets in his early days, too.
The second is a little bit more real. He's not some 6'5", 240 lb tank like Big Ben. I'm afraid he'll take unnecessary chances with his feet and take hits he shouldn't. While injuries happen in football, we don't need another RG3 on our hands. Plus we don't need more turnovers from fumbles.
While I'm all in on him being the starter, there's going to be some growing pains that we'll just have to accept.

[WhiteWhale]

Originally Posted by oldman

I have 2 concerns. First, the kid is going to make some bonehead mistakes because of his confidence in his arm strength. After years of few turnovers under Smith, this is going to cause some fans to go absolutely batshit crazy. To that I'll just say Brett Favre probably fattened some shrinks wallets in his early days, too.
The second is a little bit more real. He's not some 6'5", 240 lb tank like Big Ben. I'm afraid he'll take unnecessary chances with his feet and take hits he shouldn't. While injuries happen in football, we don't need another RG3 on our hands. Plus we don't need more turnovers from fumbles.
While I'm all in on him being the starter, there's going to be some growing pains that we'll just have to accept.

I'm not concerned about concern 1. That will work itself out.

I AM concerned with the 2nd thing you mentioned.

Big play determine games. Will he turn it over more than Smith? Probably. I'm willing to throw the dice with my belief his positive big plays will outweigh the consequences of the big plays he may create for defenses.