Patrick Mahomes admits Chiefs’ playbook is ‘harder than I thought’

Patrick Mahomes AFC West Rookie

The Kansas City Chiefs moved up to draft Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL draft hoping he’d be the next franchise quarterback in time.

How long the process might take isn’t easy to predict, but thus far, Mahomes admits to being surprised by the size of the Chiefs’ playbook.

Here’s a look at his thoughts on the matter, according to ESPN’s Adam Teicher:

“It’s a lot more than I had at Texas Tech,” Mahomes said, via ESPN. “Whenever I got up there and called it, then I had to look out there and see the guys and make sure everybody was in the right position. That was pretty much the process, and it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.”

This isn’t an overly surprising situation for a rookie quarterback. Mahomes hailed from a spread offense that was more complex than some believed, but he’s still going to need time to digest the playbook and adapt to the pro game.

Which makes the fit genius, really—the Chiefs were never going to ask Mahomes to start right away. He’ll get to learn from Alex Smith for at least a year before taking over, provided his development remains on a solid track.

It should. We’re talking about Andy Reid, a guy who knows a thing or two about developing quarterbacks. If Reid felt strongly enough to move up and get Mahomes, it’s a safe bet the Texas Tech product won’t have any problems eventually learning the ins and outs of Reid’s system.

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