Peter King predicts Patrick Mahomes will “start some” in 2017
By Matt Conner
Monday Morning Quarterback’s Peter King believes that Patrick Mahomes will end up “starting some” games for the Chiefs in 2017.
It doesn’t seem like very many people believe the whole “sit for a year thing” is going to work for Patrick Mahomes when all is said and done. The Kansas City Chiefs leadership came out in full force to support the idea of Alex Smith as the team’s starting quarterback throughout this entire offseason, with the unspoken idea that Mahomes could potentially start beginning in 2018. For NFL writers like Peter King, however, it’s a bit hard to believe the Chiefs will sit their first round pick for an entire redshirt season.
In his latest Monday Morning Quarterback column, King gives a short prediction for the Chiefs this season. He writes, “Pat Mahomes starts some. How much? I don’t know.”
It’s an interesting note from King given that he even agrees that the Chiefs are deep and should be in a good position to win during the regular season. Most teams who make a switch at quarterback do so because they are losing and want to reverse course, or there’s been an injury and the back-up had to take over for some time. Very rarely has a team ever been winning with one quarterback yet made the decision to switch things anyway.
Even more, it’s hard to see the Chiefs going back on their word given the vocal support they gave him earlier this year and how well Smith has responded. Everyone involved has been above board in their interactions and interviews about a situation that could have clouded the locker room with lesser leaders around. Instead, the Chiefs seem focused and unphased by any potential idea of a QB controversy.
If Mahomes ends up with some amount of games started in 2017, it means there’s likely been an injury to Smith at some point or that the Chiefs season deflated far earlier than expected. Either way, that’s not good news for Chiefs fans.