Patrick Mahomes Predicted To Debut vs. Oakland Raiders

It was obvious the Kansas City Chiefs were looking towards the future when they traded up for Patrick Mahomes in the draft.

Alex Smith may not have liked it, but reality is starting to set in. He’s had four seasons of being the uncontested starter. Yes he’s made the playoffs three times and ended the ugly winless streak in the postseason. Still, the overarching reality remains. He hasn’t gotten them to a Super Bowl. This increases the buzz from people that he may have hit his ceiling. A quarterback good enough to reach the postseason but not good enough to win there.

That combined with his advancing age forced head coach Andy Reid into a decision. Time to get a young arm who might be able to put them over the top. That is where Mahomes came in. The gunslinger out of Texas Tech has a world of ability and perhaps the best arm of the 2017 draft class. He can do things with the football Smith just can’t. It’s no longer a matter of “if” Smith gets replaced but when.

Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com predicts it will come in December, fittingly against a hated old rival.

"“An afterthought in the AFC West, the Chiefs hand the reins to Mahomes to spark the offense, with Oakland in town for a Week 14 clash. The first-year QB’s debut is typical of a gunslinging freshman, one wrought with picks, overthrown curl routes and unfathomable late-game magic.”"

Why so long? A number of factors. Smith is still a reliable quarterback and the Chiefs are still a good team. The team can’t replace the guy if they’re winning football games. Also there’s the reality that Mahomes is coming from a classic college spread offense. He has little to no understanding of how to run a complicated pro system with fundamentals that go with it. That’s not to say he can’t learn, but it will take time.

An entire regular season though? Yep. Make no mistake Andy Reid runs a variation of the West Coast offense. That is as diverse as it gets in the NFL. He’ll have to drill Mahomes constantly for months to get him right. Until then it’s still Smith’s show to run.