Charcandrick West: Patrick Mahomes has “got a cannon” for an arm

Fans who have been wanting to see what a strong arm can do at quarterback are going to love what teammates are saying about Patrick Mahomes.

As more time passes and Patrick Mahomes begins to settle in more and more for the Kansas City Chiefs, reporters are likely to get more of the same sorts of descriptions Charcandrick West gave about the rookie on Friday. The Kansas City Chiefs running back appeared on NFL Total Access recently and said he was impressed by Mahomes throwing strength.

"“Man, this kid can throw the football,” said West. “Man, I mean, I ran I think a slant route and I was like, woah. It was crazy. He’s got a cannon on him.”"

Mahomes came into the NFL labeled as a gunslinger with an incredible arm that can make all required throws at any level. Some of you might remember visions from this spring of a single throw spanning nearly an entire football field—this 80-yard throw from Mahomes.

This was also the offseason that velocity became a commonly used pre-draft term and point of quarterback analysis. To that end, Mahomes put up a 62 mph effort here.

Mahomes did throw for over 5,000 yards his senior season in a pass-happy offense that often had to score touchdowns just to keep up with opponents at Texas Tech. Mahomes has been used to overly depending on that arm strength to keep his team alive, but when paired with an elite defense and thoughtful offensive attack, it could be interesting to see the gifts reined in a bit in order to keep defenses guessing.

It will take a bit of adjustment for everyone, Mahomes included, but it seems like the future at quarterback will offer a whole new set of offensive weapons that can easily aim downfield.