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Beginning today and occurring over the next several weeks, I will be previewing different position groups for the upcoming Texas Tech football season. I know many of you are chomping at the bit to get a Tech football fix, so enjoy the ride. Today, we will be starting with without a doubt the most important position on the football field, quarterback.
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Patrick Mahomes is decent at football*.
(*Denotes an understatement).
Mahomes is going to be a Heisman candidate. He is arguably the best quarterback in the Big 12. With the path that he is on, Mahomes is going to become the most prolific quarterback that has ever put on a Texas Tech uniform. What makes Mahomes so great? Let’s check it out.
1) Ability to Create
I think the biggest reason that the Texas Tech fan base has fallen in love with Mahomes is the exhilarating plays he makes game-in game-out. It’s like riding a rollercoaster without knowing the loops and turns that the rollercoaster takes throughout the duration of the ride.
I cannot remember a game last year where Mahomes was not compared to Johnny Manziel in terms of his ability to create plays. It seemed like every game. College football television announcers’ go to name-drop nowadays for comparing quarterbacks of today’s game is Manziel, and it’s easy to see why announcers would want to pin the two together.
2) Accuracy
Mahomes’ accuracy is incredible. It is by far the most underrated aspect of his game.
On this play, not only did Mahomes create the play out of nothing, he threw the ball thirty yards, on a line, right into the lap of Sadler on a 3rd and 16. Unbelievable.
Man, we are really going to miss Jakeem. It was a heckuva’ catch here, but it was also a heckuva’ throw. Mahomes has an unconventional throwing style, but he seems to be accurate more times than not.
3) Running Ability
This kind of ties in with the ability to create portion of the article, but the combination of elusiveness and speed make Pat a great runner. He’s like a faster version of Big Ben.
Last year, there was a difference in Mahomes’ running game before and after the TCU game (had a knee injury in the 2nd quarter). He did wear a knee brace for the rest of the season after that injury. The elusiveness of Mahomes helped him to still rush for many more yards, but we didn’t quite see the speed as displayed here in the Sam Houston St. game:
With a 100% healthy knee and making good "business" decisions while running this year, I believe we could see Mahomes’ rushing yards eclipse the 600-700 yard mark (ran for 456 yards on 131 carries last year). Buckle up.
It is a freakin’ blast to watch Mahomes play quarterback. Appreciate it while you can.
Credit to ESPN/ABC and Fox Sports for the clips.