It's not as if I take issue with the ranking of Pat Mahomes here, as I can clearly understand the risks and the negative arguments.
But I've been tweeting about the guy since September 2014 and I'm not likely to stop any time soon because there's a quality about him that I really like. The same quality that had me onto Aaron Rodgers back in the day, the same quality that had me raving about Cam Newton, the same quality that probably should've had me onto a Dak Prescott but I got lazy and didn't really evaluate him closely enough to get beyond the superficial obstacles, and to be fair the same quality that steers me toward guys with flaws that should by all means be fatal like Rakeem Cato and Russell Wilson.
I just think the guy can play.
I know that's vague but some guys have that performance factor and coordination kind of inherent in everything they do, and many don't. It's not necessary. There are Hall of Famers at the position out there that don't really look like this, and there are players I like at the position that look nothing like this. But it's something I'm probably always going to be drawn toward and it's how I see a Patrick Mahomes.
I mean to go back to one of my admitted bruises from the past Rakeem Cato. We always knew the guy had some serious potentially fatal flaws he'd have to overcomes somehow. He was short, which is bad enough, but the guy also serially refused to gain weight which kind of says a couple of different things, none of which are good. His arm was on the weaker side for an NFL starter and he'd have had to overcome that (similar to Doughty). His fiery attitude was a sword that cuts both ways, that was always evident. His general communication level was among the worst I'd seen at the position and unfortunately it led to questions of general intelligence which I'm not sure ever got laid to rest. I kept thinking how if I were his agent I'd try and convince him to take elocution lessons. But that's only if he'd go to them, and it became apparent later in the process that was a big IF because the guy had this cloud of attitude around him where you couldn't read what he was thinking and then he'd just not show up to things. His own agent was in an article talking about how he's not sure if Rakeem hates him or likes him, he's that unreadable. That comes from Cato's background which was another sword that cut both ways. The strength he needed to overcome that background in Liberty City (which is like a war zone) having lost his only parent when he was 13 years old is why he's gotten to where he's gotten to, but it's also one of the reasons he hasn't been able to go further. It manages to produce more and more chaos in his life, even up in the CFL where he keeps going through things because friends back home are getting killed (which has happened twice and the turmoil bled into his professional life detrimentally both times), or he goes back home to a local school to workout and his backpack which has his passport in it gets stolen, etc.
His NFL dream is dead and it was dead on arrival, because of the fatal flaws. But man that guy could play. I mean he can just play.
I bring that up because Pat Mahomes doesn't have those flaws. He's 6'3". He has a good build. He's a professional athlete's son, been around professional athletes his whole life. His background is a source of strength without the drawbacks. He communicates very well. I have heard he has a 4.0 at Tech, or somewhere close to it. He plays with an even keel; I never see a lot of emotion. And he's got as gifted an arm as you'll find out there short of a Davis Webb. It's as much arm talent as Aaron Rodgers is working with and that's saying something.
Fatal flaws, he also has. You come from an Air Raid and there's always going to be skepticism, for good reason. Slimm just enumerated them about Luke Falk.
But ultimately I think the guy can just physically play the game in a way that Luke Falk can't, and I think those guys have a way of overcoming system related obstacles.