Broncos coach Vic Fangio says Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes has ‘good athletic arrogance’
One thing is for certain about the 2019 NFL season: The Chiefs will have a bull’s-eye on their back in the AFC West.
During news conferences at the NFL Combine, the Chiefs’ AFC West rivals talked about Kansas City and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in his first season as a starter.
“Obviously, they’re in our division and have a very good football team,” Broncos general manager John Elway told reporters. “Patrick had a tremendous year last year and is going to be someone we’re going to have to deal with for a long, long time. ... As usual, our first goal is to win the division and that’s going to go through Kansas City.”
New Broncos coach Vic Fangio said facing the Chiefs will be a “big test.”
“I see talent is the first thing I see when I look at them,” Fangio told reporters. “Mahomes is obviously a great, great talent, can make plays from the pocket and obviously outside the pocket with a big arm and got great creativity. He’s got a good athletic arrogance to him that allows him to utilize all his talents. Then the speed they have at receiver and tight end and running backs. They’re the team to beat in our division.”
Clearly, the “athletic arrogance” comment was a compliment. After all, Mahomes is confident enough in his ability to throw no-look passes.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden also talked about the problems the Chiefs’ offense can cause for a defense.
“If you watch Kansas City play in our division, you might need to play eight (defensive backs),’ Gruden told reporters. “They’re throwing the ball unlike any team I’ve seen.”
Raiders general manager Mike Mayock was asked what kind of challenges presented by Mahomes and AFC West division opponents.
“I think our division, from a playmaker perspective, might put more pressure on the defense than any other division in football,” Mayock told reporters. “To the point where in my office the first thing I did when I went in was I had them take all the blinds down and everything else, and I’ve got an entire wall of just the AFC West. Their rosters, their practice squad ... everything, depth charts, all up on one wall.
“Magnetic names, just to reinforce to me every day the challenges we have, and you start talking about Mahomes and (Travis) Kelce and Tyreek Hill. The entire division when you look at depth charts of both sides of the ball with their rosters, we got a huge challenge ahead of us. I think we probably face some of the best edge rushers in football on the other side of the ball.
“You start talking about what Kansas City has had, you talk about what the Chargers have, you talk about that monster (Von Miller) in Denver, so we are very aware of the challenges in our division. We think they might be the most significant in the league.”
Chargers general manager Tom Telesco talked about one of Mahomes’ former favorite activities off the field: basketball. I’m not sure if he was asked specifically about Mahomes’ basketball clip, but Telesco said it happens.
“I think NFL players have probably been playing offseason basketball since before Vince Lombardi, so I know it happens,” Telesco told reporters. “I’m probably not thrilled about it. You just want guys to be educated in what the risks are and hope that they stay safe. But guys have been playing basketball in the offseason for years and years and years.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 10:10 AM.
