“You don’t have to teach Pat”: Andy Reid reveals that he told Alex Smith to not mentor Patrick Mahomes
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Patrick Mahomes is a freak of nature, a generational talent with not only a cannon for an arm but also exceptional football IQ. His career trajectory has been similar to Tom Brady in many respects, winning a Super Bowl in his second season, winning MVP, and making some throws that are hard to make even while playing Madden NFL. The biggest regret any Kansas City Chiefs fan has is probably that Patrick Mahomes did not get the starting role in the year that he was drafted. However, maybe that was for the best.
You’d think in order to be a good quarterback in the league, there has to be some sort of mentoring needed. Usually, when QBs are drafted into the league, they go through a grooming process, the existing veterans are often the best teachers as they have been through it all. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case. Some quarterbacks are so transcendental and talented that they will excel no matter what. Patrick Mahomes is one such quarterback.
“Alex Smith was the greatest thing that ever happened to Pat Mahomes”: Any Reid
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is supportive of Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s stance on not being willing to groom his eventual replacement and backup Malik Willis. He believes that his stance is logical and he also shares that he never expected former Chiefs QB Alex Smith to groom Mahomes either.
“I told Alex, ‘Man, go out and have the greatest year you’ve ever had, and you don’t have to teach Pat, we’re here to do that as coaches, you’re out there to go produce and win games and do the best you possibly can for your team.’ And so that’s the way we approached it with him.”
“Now Alex, by nature, though, was the greatest thing that ever happened to Pat Mahomes… Alex let Patrick into his world without being forced into it… So it worked out. I didn’t have to say a whole lot other than, ‘You go play and go win games, let’s go win a championship and do the best you possibly can do at the quarterback position.’ ” Reid told Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports earlier last week.
The 2017 season witnessed Mahomes sitting on the sidelines and learning how the game works in reality. Smith had a heck of a year with 67.5 percent completion, 4,042 yards passing, 26-5 TD to INT ratio, and a passer rating of 104.7. He even made the Pro Bowl while leading his team to an AFC West title and a trip to the playoffs.
Post that year, the Chiefs put Mahomes in the driver’s seat and there has been no looking back.
Coming back to Tennessee, Ryan Tannehill has been heavily criticized due to his attitude toward his rookie competition. Tannehill replaced Marcus Mariota in 2019, it is likely that he had a similar experience. Even Aaron Rogers was not groomed in his rookie year by his veteran Brett Favre, so it is not all that new for veterans to feel unobligated towards their competition.
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Sumedh Joshi
(2235 Articles Published)