Pro Football Focus really, really likes Patrick Mahomes
By Matt Conner
The staff at Pro Football Focus have high hopes and praise for Patrick Mahomes given their pick of him in their Foundation Draft.
The staff members of Pro Football Focus are in the midst of an interesting thought experiment: a foundational re-drafting of the entire NFL from the ground up, a la Madden football. What’s interesting, for our purposes, is that a certain member of the Kansas City Chiefs who has never even played a single down of professional football is one of the first 13 players off of the board in Patrick Mahomes.
It’s clear that the Kansas City Chiefs think highly of Patrick Mahomes given the fact that they traded up 17 slots to get him in the 2017 NFL Draft. In a deal with the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs gave up an additional first round pick in 2018 as well as a third round selection to be able to secure the services of the Texas Tech star. Despite concerns about level of competition, footwork issues, style of offense and the like, the Chiefs were enamored with Mahomes’ big play capability and live arm and went all-in for their future franchise player.
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It wasn’t long after the draft that several other teams declared their interest in Mahomes as well. The New Orleans Saints were reportedly interested in taking him. Rumors also included the Arizona Cardinals. Apparently Mahomes is even more well-liked than ever, as Bill Douglas of Pro Football Focus also wants to make him his (pretend) franchise quarterback as he drafts his own team in PFF’s Foundation Draft.
From the outset, quarterbacks were taken one after another after another in the first round of the draft. Yet even before the best college quarterbacks like Sam Darnold or Josh Allen and before pros like Matthew Stafford, Bill Douglas decided to take Mahomes as his primary pick at No. 13 overall. He writes:
"The Chiefs traded up to pair Mahomes with head coach Andy Reid, and if his development goes well, Mahomes has a sky-high ceiling down the road. Considering this is starting a whole new league, odds are Mahomes, taken here, would start in this league, but even with that, this is a pick made by a team building for the future, not necessarily right now."
What else is interesting is that neither other rookie quarterback like Mitchell Trubisky or Deshaun Watson were taken in the first 32 picks. Jimmy Garropolo is also notably absent. Perhaps this is just Douglas’s own personal take or maybe it’s because PFF truly believes in Mahomes overall, but it’s interesting that the Chiefs might have landed one of the best ascending talents at the game’s most important position. It’s certainly the hopes of every fan and staff member. Bill Douglas is even putting his fake hopes on it.