Friday, April 21, 2017

2017 Draft Profile - Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech

Patrick Mahomes II

QB - Texas Tech - #5 - Junior
6-foot-2 - 225 - 4.80 speed
Two-year stats: 25 starts - 752 of 1164 for 9,706 yards - 64.6 completion percentage - 77 TD/25 INT - 262 runs for 741 yards - 22 rushing TDs
Mahomes is one of the most interesting prospects in this draft and only needs one team to think he is a potential winning lottery ticket. His ceiling seems quite high.
POSITIVES:  When you watch Patrick Mahomes play football, you are certainly taken with his immense arm and his confidence in his ability to make something out of nothing.  He can throw the ball a mile and on a rope.  He can wiggle out of jams and keep a play alive where he certainly can make magic.  He reminds people of Brett Favre, which seems ridiculous until you see one of his crazy improv plays and hair-trigger decisions that sometimes go well (see concerns, below). He is elusive when he keeps the ball and does a nice job of finding the sticks.  He has irrational confidence in his ability to fire the ball out of trouble to a touchdown.  His deep shots might be his best attribute.  He has very impressive escapability and also can throw the ball off balance and against his body.  He appears to have the full attention of his huddle and his team.   They want to see him lead them.  As tough as can be.  He keeps getting up for more punishment.
CONCERNS:  He thinks every idea is a good idea, which will require a coach that thinks similarly. There are many coaches who want play-making QBs, but do not want the collateral damage of hair-trigger decisions that go the other way.  Mahomes puts the ball in the wrong place pretty often, and this is a concern, not because turnovers are always his fault, but because he generates them by passing up a small gain as he continuously hunts for the bigger gains.   Sometimes, his eye-level drops to try to see pass rushers, which causes him to lose sight of receivers.  And yes, he plays in a Texas Tech program that does not have a play-book, huddle, or structure that makes NFL people comfortable.  He has tools, but will also be seen as quite a project where they attempt to find if he can fit in the complex classroom of the NFL offense.  
Overall, he seems like someone teams hope to harness the downside to pursue the improv genius.

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