Arrowhead Pride
There are many qualities that make Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes a special player. His arm strength is incredible. Mahomes’ ability to change his arm angle is arguably the best the NFL has ever seen. He can adjust his throw to hit any throwing window. Mahomes’ feel for space and coverage is some of the best ever.
However, the first thing I think about in Mahomes’ game is all the plays outside the pocket or scrambling over his career. Mahomes has the arm strength and flexibility to make a throw from any platform, even while sprinting. He forces defenses to cover every blade of grass behind the line of scrimmage, since Mahomes is a threat to throw from any position.
He also has the speed to create explosive runs with his legs. Mahomes’ feel in the pocket for small openings has bailed the Chiefs out many times. Mahomes has made countless crucial first downs with his rushing ability.
As the Chiefs’ offensive infrastructure and talent have decreased in recent years, Mahomes’s ability to scramble to create throwing or rushing windows has become even more important. The Chiefs’ wide receivers have needed more time to get open downfield against man coverage, and Mahomes gives them that with his scrambles.
Arguably, the Chiefs best answer on third down in recent years has been Mahomes scrambles. His ability to get just enough for a first down has kept the offense buoyant.
While this has been a major weapon for the Chiefs, this need for Mahomes to create so much with his legs caught up to him. The floor fell out for the Chiefs’ offense last season. The team couldn’t run the ball at all, and the wide receivers struggled to do anything downfield. The offense was cramped and could not string together drives often.
In an attempt to overcome this, Mahomes had to scramble more often. By the end of the season, despite Mahomes’s best heroics, he wasn’t able to lift the offense with his playmaking.
To make matters worse, Mahomes tore his ACL against the Los Angeles Chargers during the fourth quarter of Week 15. Not only was that the final conclusion of a rough season, but it affects this coming season too.
Mahomes has proven over the years to be able to come back from an injury quicker than others, and he’s doing that again. Despite only tearing his ACL seven months ago, Mahomes has been a full participant in training camp.
It’s remarkable that Mahomes is going to even be able to play that shortly after his injury. Just having Mahomes back, even if he’s limited, is a major boost to the offense. However, Mahomes is going to have to alter his playing style to account for his injury, mainly running less.
Mahomes acknowledged this in a recent press conference about running less this season.
If anyone could come back in that short amount of time and still be able to run, it is Mahomes. However, the most likely...
