Peyton Manning has high praise for Patrick Mahomes
By Matt Conner
During his appearance on the most recent episode of the Peter King podcast, Peyton Manning had high praise for Patrick Mahomes and his future in the league.
During the most recent episode of the Peter King podcast, Peyton Manning showed up as a guest to discuss several subjects related to his playing career and what life looks like after the NFL for the future Hall of Famer.
One topic of discussion drifted to the very quarterback who might just challenge some of Manning’s biggest achievements: Patrick Mahomes. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback not only won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award last season but he did so by joining Manning as the only members of the 50 touchdown, 5,000 passing yards club.
Manning certainly knows a great quarterback when he sees one. The 2-time Super Bowl champion went to 14 Pro Bowls in his career and won the NFL’s MVP trophy himself on five separate occasions.
King, a reporter for NBC Sports these days, decided to ask Manning a few questions about Mahomes and why he thinks he’s going to be so good for the long haul. Here’s the full transcript from that section:
Peter King: I’m really curious. You last year in your show where you totally dissect quarterbacks, which was really, really a cool show. Even though Patrick Mahomes is such a different player than you were, you really loved not only watching his tape, but you were fascinated by the player he is.
Peyton Manning: I think everybody is. I’m no different. Some of the throws he’s making… I just don’t think anybody’s seen before. Whether it’s the kind of no-look throws… some of the ability to sprint left, throw back right, he’s got a little Elway in him. Elway was kind of famous for that. I mean, the Broncos actually started designing plays to sprint left and throw back right. Mahomes is still improvising.
But what I like about him is that he’s taking coaching. Andy Reid is going to coach the stew out of him. I like that for him and his future. I like head coaches calling the offensive plays because you know they’re going to be there. They’re not going to have a coordinator leave the next year and you’ve gotta learn this new system. That’s kind of what Matt Ryan has had to deal with a little bit once Kyle Shanahan left and it’s hard learning the new system.
PK: It was so interesting when you got to Denver, you asked Jack Del Rio, right? And I think, wasn’t it Jack Del Rio and Adam Gase? ‘You guys aren’t gonna leave are you?’
PM: Exactly. Because you’re looking for some continuity. I think Alex Smith told me he had five different coordinators his first five years. That’s tough. So I like the fact that Mahomes is going to be coached, that he takes coaching and that he plays in a disciplined system, but at the same time, he can make a lot of plays on his own. He’s just fun and entertaining to watch. I like his spirit and love and passion for the game that shows up when you watch him play as well.
You can catch the rest of the episode here as Manning also discusses plenty of NFL history, his own career at this stage, and what he thinks of an 18-game season.