Patrick Mahomes Details How He Got Drafted by Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs trading up to select Patrick Mahomes back in the 2017 NFL Draft is arguably the best decision in franchise history, as the move finally landed the team an all-world quarterback it had been needing for decades. Stories about how current general manager Brett Veach played a critical role in the picking of Mahomes are well known, but Mahomes recently shed some brand-new light on the process as well.
On a new episode of the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, Mahomes joined his Chiefs teammate and the Philadelphia Eagles' star offensive lineman to discuss a multitude of topics. Among them was how Mahomes ended up in Kansas City and, as it turns out, there was an unsung hero who helped make the union happen. Quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy gave Mahomes the answers to Andy Reid's pre-draft visit test, and Mahomes explained the entire thing in full.
"The first day that I met coach Reid was at the facility — we have the meetings, the top-30 visits," Mahomes said. "That was the first time I really met him. At that time, there was no time limit, so I was in there for like five hours. He's just going through plays. I'm going to just give you all the inside scoop. Matt Nagy, who's our quarterbacks coach now, was our offensive coordinator then. He really liked me, so he gave me the plays they were going to go over the night before. So coach Reid's finding out here live on the New Heights podcast.
"So, of course, I crushed the meeting. I stayed up all night studying those plays. The rest was history, man. I met coach Reid, he went over the plays, we went and had some lunch. He had a couple of cheeseburgers and then we went back and I looked back on the board and I had seen that I was a guru, in a sense, because I knew every single play and every check."
Dec 23, 2018; Seattle, WA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) and head coach Andy Reid sit on the bench during the third quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Those top-30 visits, of course, don't guarantee that a team is dead-set on a player. Oftentimes, they're used to complete scouting profiles or help decide where (or whether) a player should slot in on that respective club's draft board. In Mahomes's case, however, that initial meeting with Reid all but ensured that Kansas City was thoroughly impressed with the former Texas Tech standout. With some assistance from Nagy, Mahomes made a tremendous first impression.
Once Mahomes had endeared himself to the Chiefs organization, the next step was for Kansas City to figure out how to get him in the draft. The feeling of interest was mutual, but Mahomes admitted on the podcast that other teams were also fans of his and were considering adding him into the fold early on. In the days and weeks before the draft, Mahomes went from feeling that he'd be a late first-round pick to a potential top-half selection. That ended up being the case, although Mahomes and his camp played a notable role in making the trade-up from pick No. 27 to 10 happen. The rest is history.
"I kind of gave a little inside info to the Chiefs and was like 'Hey, if y'all let me go 12 or below, I'm going to get drafted by someone else.' So I gave the Chiefs a little bit of info on that because I wanted to be here. I don't know who was at 12 that time, but I knew right around there was where I was going to get drafted. My agent talked to Brett Veach and the Chiefs' staff. I remember at about pick nine or 10, Veach sent my agent a little picture of a Red Raider with the 'Guns Up,' so I knew the Chiefs were drafting me."
