As someone who has watched every game he played for the last 3 years, below are probably the biggest issues that need to be fixed... even moreso than the footwork:

1. Trust the pocket. Pat would bail on the pocket too quickly at times and would actually make the play more difficult on himself and his team. He had a crap OL, but even when they did a good job for him he would still bail out of the pocket too soon.

2. Decision-making. This one you can try your best to coach the gunslinger out of him, but his natural tendency is to go for broke on every play. If he is unable to control that tendency, he will be an INT machine at the NFL level and it will prevent him from reaching his potential.

3. Protecting himself. He is a warrior and his natural instinct is to take whatever hits are required to get the first down, etc. This one I hope they can coach out of him or he will be an injury bust in the NFL. He has already had a number of self-inflicted injuries due to his refusal to ever give up on plays. They have to make him a lot more conservative on this aspect of the game.
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Honestly I think that #2 is where Reid is going to help him the most. Pick and choose your shots but don't be afraid to take them if they're there.
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Don't forget, Smith has issues that are not fixable either. Poor pocket presence. Panics at phantom pressure. Doesn't see down the field when pressured. Won't throw receivers open, will only throw to open receivers (sometimes).
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But he's made 100 million dollars!!!! I mean thats only 50 million per playoff win...

great career
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Pat had a tendency to bail from the pocket too quick as well, similar to the "phantom pressure" you are describing. They are going to have to work with him on this for sure. Pat's field vision is great for the most part, but he does miss opportunities from time to time.

Gruden brought up a great example at the end of the Texas game. We were driving to try to tie the game. Still had a timeout on the board. Pat missed an obvious check-down throw and threw into triple coverage in the end zone. Sure enough interception cost us our chance to tie the game. We were not that far from the end zone either. Pat said the check-down guy could have made it to the 7 or 8 yard line. With a timeout on the board, you have to take that check-down when all the guys in the end zone are covered.

I think he understands that he has to change this aspect of his game. But the question is can he control his natural instincts? Even if you know the right thing to do, the question is can you control your adrenaline and everything under the lights or will you revert to bad habits?
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The fact that he recognized the mistake and owned it is impressive to me. Hopefully he realizes some of the stuff that worked at Tech won't work in the League.
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Mike Kafka
Brad Childress
Matt Nagy
Andy Reid

I have so much trust in these men to coach this kid up.
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Yep, he is a smart kid and willing to admit his mistakes. I hope he can learn to control his adrenaline in those situations and not just go for broke every time. That's where Andy Reid's staff comes into play. I think Kliff tried his best to get Pat to play more controlled, but couldn't quite put him over the top. Part of that might just be Pat's youth. The older he gets, the more he will learn to control his decision-making...hopefully.

But as we have said before, these flaws are the reason he wasn't picked #1 overall. He has that kind of talent and Pat is fortunate he was not polished enough to be picked by the Browns. That is QB Graveyard. Andy Reid is a great QB coach and will likely get more out of him than the Browns ever could.
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You're impressed that he agreed with Jon Gruden on camera in an episode of Gruden's Corner, a show where Gruden critiques QB prospects and the prospects humbly accept in return for the exposure?

That's dangerously close to praising just to praise.


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Agreed, and I think this will be the first major, instant-gratification improvement everyone will see out of Mahomes. He rarely had a pocket to work out of at Tech, especially in the 2016 season. Plus, Kiliff's offense, to a large extent, was altered to take advantage of Mahomes mobility and full-field vision. Graham Harrell was a stellar pocket passer, but was about as mobile as I am.

Yeppers, this is the one big concern that Pat himself is going to have to adjust and deal with, but I think that will come with maturity and experience. This is where he is incredibly "Favre like" but I'm confident that Andy Reid can squash that a little bit. As you recall, how many times did we hear Kliff in post-game interviews state that part of his offensive plan was to "let Pat be Pat?"

I used to want to hose down my tv with endless rounds of buckshot when Kingsbury would say that. I doubt we'll ever hear Reid say, "Yeah, he threw some bad picks and made some lousy decisions, but I was just letting him (Pat) be Pat."

I remember the 2015 TCU game when he took some bad hits and I kept cringing--like everyone else at the stadium who was sober.

My guess is that this will be the SECOND major thing that Reid immediately gets out of the boy's psyche. Maybe we can recruit Deion Sanders to explain to Mahomes the concept of making a "business decision?" :-)

This will, hopefully, come with the discipline that is present with solid, proven coaches like Reid and his staff. We didn't have that at Tech. We're getting there, slowly (TOO slowly), but Kliff was too generous with Pat and let him have his own way. Of course, I don't think Kliff has ever had a QB like Mahomes, either, in fairness to Kliff.

I think if we substitute "focus and discipline" in lieu of "control" his natural instincts, we have a winner. As you and I (and others) have followed this young man for the past three years, his intelligence and ability to focus when given the platform is uncanny. While Pat put up uncanny and outer-space like numbers in 2016, they were largely the product of self-preservation given that we had no offensive line, no running game and some suspect receivers. Mahomes' competitiveness worked for him statistically (great numbers), but against him physically (injuries from trying to force every play) in his desire to win.

I'll take the warrior any day so long as there is a wise-old wizard that teaches and instills in the warrior discipline, focus and know when to take two steps back in order to leap five steps forward.

Like you, I'm stoked about seeing him in a Chiefs uniform. Can't wait for everything to start rolling!

--JD
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The Chiefs have an incredible staff and a great mix of veteran coaches with some infused youth. If he's coachable, and it sounds like he is, he'll be fine.
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I was terrified he was going to get picked by the Jets. That is Football player Hell. Were it not for Namath and the '69 Super Bowl win over Baltimore, the Jets would be the most irrelevant team in the history of organized sports.

--JD
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Geez, I'll try to make sure my posts meet your lofty standards from here on out. And while I may be praising just to praise you seem to be an arrogant prick just to be an arrogant prick.

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Also a huge city with a ton of pressure. Kansas City is like a bigger Lubbock, more laid back kind of place where Pat can work on his game quietly behind the scenes. It's not a huge city with all of the East Coast media obsessing over your every move. Mark Sanchez never stood a chance there, especially after the Jets traded a ton of draft picks to get him.
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THAT set you off? Seriously?

No, you're right. Mahomes' ability to nod his head at a blowhard ESPN talking head tells me we're in for at least a half dozen SB rings!!
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