Patrick Mahomes Is the Most Interesting Quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft

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The elusive franchise quarterback – every team wants one, but not every team has one. It’s the most important piece of a successful NFL franchise, and can launch your team into the Super Bowl contending stratosphere. Or, it could set your franchise back for a decade. It’s an imperative decision.

Well, it’s poor timing to need a franchise quarterback in 2017.

Mitchell Trubisky is considered by many to be the gem of the class, but he comes bogged down with questions and criticisms. Deshaun Watson won a million games in college, but many scouts don’t think he’ll cut it in the NFL. DeShone Kizer could end up being the best of the class, but he has the frame of a teenager, and will need to beef up. Davis Webb is soaring up draft boards. Lest we forget, the quarterback who was initially projected to go first overall, Brad Kaaya, has plummeted down draft boards.

Not a lot of “safe” quarterback picks in this draft. But, there is one guy who seems to have extreme potential one way or the other: Patrick Mahomes. The former Texas Tech Red Raider has been heralded as the next Derek Carr. He’s also been labeled complete bust material.

There’s a fine line between intrigue and skepticism – especially when drafting at a position of such importance.

When you’re essentially placing immense pressure on a young man to perform, it’s easy to emphasize the eye test and end up with a JaMarcus Russell. It’s also easy to overthink yourself into oblivion, and pass on a Dak Prescott.

Like every other prospect, Mahomes’ potential lies somewhere on that spectrum. His biggest criticism is the offense he played in at Texas Tech. But, if you ask him, it wasn’t as far off from NFL offenses as the draft experts would have you believe.

You can put on his tape and it glows. He flashes potential of every characteristic teams look for in a strong quarterback. Notably, he has a cannon for an arm. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would pay to see him attempt to throw the football out of the stadium. He can chuck the pigskin deep, sure, but he’s also accurate throwing the football as well. Mahomes possesses high football character, and his mobility allows him to buy time to make plays down the field.

He grew up a baseball player, always thinking he was destined to join the Major Leagues. Once he played football, he immediately fell in love with the sport. His dad was a pitcher for six different MLB teams from 1992-2003. So, he comes from a pedigree of elite athletes.

But,  he is “the spread quarterback.” At one time, quarterbacking a spread offense in college was like having The Scarlet Letter. Guys like Graham Harrell (coincidentally, another Texas Tech quarterback) fizzled out in the NFL faster than a freshly-poured Coca-Cola.

While a guy like Marcus Mariota has come along and started to buck that trend, the questions are still there. There’s an immense difference between a college spread offense and the offenses of the NFL, and you only have a season or two, at most, to close that gap. Primarily, quarterbacks have to adjust to taking snaps under center. And, of course, if they aren’t used to that, there are footwork issues to work through.

Mahomes will have to put in that work, but he’s willing to do so. Knowing that’s his main criticism, he’s addressed that in just about every interview I’ve read from the guy.

That same scramble-around-and-launch-the-ball specialty that has some scouts thinking of Brett Favre has others leery. Some see less ‘gunslinger’ and more ‘reckless.’ If he doesn’t demonstrate a visibly improved sense of ball security, he may not last long in the NFL.

Ultimately, it’s going to come down to the team that drafts him. Can he land with a team that will construct a playbook around him? Who is willing to add a bit of the spread offense to provide for a soft transition into the pro-style offense? Who sees more Packers Brett Favre than Jets Brett Favre?

A lot of teams are in need of a quarterback right away. There are even more teams that need to start thinking of the future of the position. Mahomes could be a steal should he end up in the latter situation. If he ends up in Cleveland, San Francisco, Chicago, New York (Jets), or Houston, it could be a disaster. These are franchises that need Week 1 starters. But, if those teams look elsewhere, he could wind up in Arizona, Kansas City, New York (Giants), New Orleans, or Los Angeles (Chargers). That would be ideal. There, he could take a few seasons to sit behind someone and learn from his coaching staff.

Personally, Bruce Arians strikes me as the type of guy willing to mix things up enough to take a “spread quarterback” and make his offense work around him. He and Mahomes could make sweet beautiful music together. I could also see Mahomes rocketing the ball deep down in New Orleans.

He didn’t win much in college, but recent Red Raider teams haven’t exactly been world beaters. Still, I wouldn’t count him out by any means should he land in the right situation. This is going to be one fun “wait and see” prospect.

PS. Doug Farrar wrote a tremendous piece on Pat Mahomes – definitely worth the read.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley@WrestlingNewsCo

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