Each NFL team’s biggest breakout candidate
By Conor Dorney
Kansas City Chiefs – Patrick Mahomes II
The 2018 NFL Draft was dubbed the “Year of the Quarterback” by some, but it’s a second-year gunslinger in Kansas City who could make more noise than anyone in this rookie class.
The Chiefs traded up and paid a steep price to get former Texas Tech Red Raider in the first round of the 2017 class, but it’s clear that Kansas City is confident that Mahomes will be their franchise quarterback for years to come. In fact, the team was so confident that it shipped Alex Smith off to Washington in exchange for cornerback Kendall Fuller.
This is undoubtedly Mahomes’ team and based on the high praise from Andy Reid, the team is extremely confident in his future:
"“He’s phenomenal. He’s got great leadership. He loves playing. He’s absorbing everything, and now he’s just got to do it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid recently explained of his uber-talented second-year quarterback. “He’s got to just go practice and work through it and massage each play and see how it works against these different coverages.”"
It’s usually pretty difficult to predict how a quarterback will play in his first full season as a starter in the NFL, but the chips are certainly stacked in Mahomes’ favor. His athletic ability and elite arm strength give him the tools to succeed and, more importantly, he’s had a year to get acclimated to the NFL game. Oh, and it helps that Chiefs are designing and tweaking their offense to highlight his strengths.
There will certainly be a learning curve, but the Chiefs are hoping their new franchise quarterback could have just the type of impact that Deshaun Watson had last season in Houston. In a perfect world, don’t be shocked if Mahomes throws for 30 or more touchdowns in 2018.