[MahomesMagic]

Matt Waldman is a must follow if you care about the draft.

He does his own work and does not follow group think.


His report on Mahomes and footwork while ESPN and the dinosaurs were clueless:

My thoughts on Patrick Mahomes’ footwork runs counter to the analysis of most who will want to re-tool it so he plays like a traditional drop-back passer. The explanations they have spanned the following rationale:

Mahomes was allowed to play without strong footwork because of the Air Raid System, so his accuracy will improve with better footwork.
His stance is often too narrow after his drops, and those passes are off-target.
Better footwork will teach him better timing and feel for the pass rush and lead to better decision-making.
These are all great points for a young quarterback – if they were giving this advice to an 8-year-old beginning his journey as a young passer. It’s not to say that Mahomes can’t develop and benefit from these areas, but it must be done without sublimating the best of his game.
Because if we return to the idea of the 8-year-old beginning his journey as a quarterback, eventually that young player will reach a point where technique is only part of the battle. We’d have to wait and see like every other coach in the U.S. whether that player develops the intuitive side of the game:
Play effectively off-script.
Make big plays off tricky pre-snap/post-snap reads that didn’t show up in pre-game homework.
Possess no gap of time between identifying a target and releasing the ball
These are vital skills that many NFL veterans can’t do well regardless of years’ work. Because the feet provide an important part of the physical structure for a quarterback’s mental processing, it’s assumed that Mahomes’ less structured execution of footwork is a big problem.
I argue that Mahomes is not only an exception but in many respects, his footwork is unconventionally exceptional.