Why Patrick Mahomes is more prepared for this opener ... but defenses less so for him
As the NFL opens its 102nd season this week, at least three teams will trot out rookie starting quarterbacks, hoping a new arm can usher in a new era.
In Kansas City, the Chiefs once rebuffed that option in favor of a different path for their first-round draft pick. They offered Patrick Mahomes something a redshirt year, a job shadow behind veteran starter Alex Smith.
The idea was to educate Mahomes on the NFL before he took on a starting role — so that after a year on the bench, as he prepared for his first opening-day start in 2018, he would feel adequately ready.
And he did.
He thought.
“I’m sure at the time I felt very prepared, but now looking back on it, I feel like I wasn’t prepared at all,” Mahomes said. “I just kind of went out there and started slinging it, and Tyreek (Hill) was running all over the field.”
The point here isn’t that the redshirt season didn’t aid Mahomes’ development — he’s credited it with doing just that, actually.
It’s just that for all of the behind-the-scenes prep work, all of the practices, all of the film sessions, at some point you need the on-the-job training. You need to feel it out for yourself.
The bigger point still is that the 2018 version of Mahomes — you know the one that won the NFL Most Valuable Player award — is much different than the version that will lead the Chiefs onto the field Sunday against the Browns in their 2021 opener.
“I definitely feel more prepared now, just because I have a better grasp of the offense,” Mahomes said. “I have a better grasp of what it takes to win football games.”
Just as you’d expect.
But here’s what maybe is a little less expected and more relevant ahead of this season opener — for all of the ways the Chiefs have expanded their offense to best fit the quarterback’s talent, that relationship is still in its early stages.
“I think the biggest thing in this offense is there (are) still chapters I have to learn — there’s still stuff I have to continue to get better at and master,” Mahomes said. “And Coach (Andy) Reid, just every single time I think I’m at that point, he just keeps giving me a little more information I can learn. He keeps me on my toes and keeps me going and getting better every single day.”
The ever-changing Chiefs offense ... and why it matters now
In his first three season openers as the Chiefs starter, Mahomes combined for 10 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. He’s posted at least a 123 quarterback rating in each of them.
All wins, too.
So, sure, even as he has worked all offseason to make adjustments and improvements in his game, it’s a bit of a reach to expect some drastic change.
The Chiefs can change, however, what the defenses expect to see from him.
“I think (the offense) is so different. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mahomes said. “I think Coach Reid does that year in and year out, no matter how we do the year before. Obviously teams change every year, so the playbook changes every single year.
“I think that’s what has kept us having the success in this league. Every single year, we’re coming up with new plays; we’re not staying stagnant on where we’re at.”
At the onset of the offseason, as front office personnel convene to discuss avenues toward improving the roster, the coaches gather and analyze all that went right — and wrong — over a previous year. They evaluate everything, and by the conclusion of the process, they’ve designed a few different roadmaps.
They’ve come up with a handful of new items to supplement their playbook — not just specific plays but often some shifts, however slight, in concepts and schemes.
Which is part of the explanation for the season-opening success. Few in the NFL are known to be more creative offensively than Reid. While that concretely materializes on the field throughout a season, it’s a different beast after a long summer. He’s had time, to be sure. And none of his work has been put on film.
“For the first three games, that’s the way it is,” Reid said. “Once you get past the third game, now you got at least some data. It’s that way for everybody. It’s that way on both sides of the ball. Not that there always isn’t (the possibility) they could do this. But when you come into it new and fresh, you expect there will be something that you haven’t seen, and then you’ll have to adjust to it.”
Reid is kindly pointing out that both teams are under the same circumstances Sunday — that both will be required to wait and see an opposition game plan before making necessary adjustments.
He’s leaving out, of course, that adjusting to his own offense has proven more difficult than vice versa. The advantage lies with the creativity, particularly this time of year.
And it shows up in the results. Mahomes has started 10 September games in his career.
His record?
10-0.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.