2017 NFL Draft: 3 Reasons I Don’t Buy Patrick Mahomes as a First Rounder

Posted By on April 8, 2017

By John Sarianides

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes is garnering a lot of attention thus far in the pre draft process. Several teams attended his pro day last week and some of those teams have set up visits with him. 

I can see why teams like Mahomes and why they would draft him in the first round. Here are three reasons why I wouldn’t draft Mahomes in the first round. 

1. He’s a Gunslinger:The days of playing the quarterback position in the NFL like Brett Favre are over. Mahomes reminds a lot of Favre in that he has a gunslinger mentality. He plays outside of the system a lot. That can be a good thing but it can also be a bad thing. 

Mahomes takes chances because he believes he can make every throw in the book. This is especially true when he gets outside the pocket. His mechanics go to hell and he just chucks the ball up for grabs. You can’t do that in the NFL. It’s a receipe for disaster. 

Mahomes will have to learn to play within the system no matter where he goes. 

2. Spread Learning Curve: Spread quarterbacks have a steep learning curve when it comes to playing the position in the NFL. Some have adapted well, others have not. 

Mahomes will face many of the same issues fellow rookies Deshaun Watson and Davis Webb are going to face. Mahomes will have to learn to take a snap from under center. He will have to learn to make multiple reads in a progresssion. He will have to learn a thick playbook that is littered with long verbiage. 

These are things Mahomes did not do at Texas Tech that he will have to do in the NFL. That’s why the learning curve is so steep for spread quarterbacks in the NFL. It’s a different game. 

3. Fundamentals Are Lacking: Mahomes needs a lot of work fundamentally. This is not a knock on his college coach Kliff Kingsbury, it’s the truth. Kingsbury coached Mahomes up but also allowed him to do whatever he wants. 

Mahomes must improve fundamentally if he wants to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.  He has to take to coaching and improve fundamentally. If he doesn’t, he will struggle to adapt to the pro game.

Pat Mahomes certainly has the arm strength, intelligence and toughness to play in the NFL. That being said, I don’t think he is a first rounder. Despite that, I think he will go in the first 25 picks.