While the offseason workout program for the Kansas City Chiefs just kicked off on Monday, QB Patrick Mahomes has already begun working with his newest teammates.
All of the Chiefs’ newly-signed receivers, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Corey Coleman joined Mahomes in Texas for some throwing sessions over the past few weeks. They’re getting a jumpstart on building up their chemistry ahead of OTAs, mandatory minicamp and training camp.
Asked about his early impression after throwing to his new teammates, Mahomes had a unique takeaway from the experience.
“I think the biggest thing you see, actually from throwing to all these guys really, we have a lot of size in that receiving room that we haven’t necessarily had in the past,” Mahomes told reporters. “We’ve done it different ways with speed and beating guys deep. But to have big, physical receivers that can still run and still catch the ball over the top, there have been balls that I’ve thrown out there during routes on air, I’ve thrown in high thinking it was an overthrow and those guys are catching it easy. Having that size, I think will be different. I’m excited for it and I think it will be something that will be useful for us during the season.”
The biggest difference that Mahomes seems to be noticing is the size of new receivers like Smith-Schuster (6-1) and Valdes-Scantling (6-4). In scenarios where he thought he might have thrown the ball too high, these guys are plucking it out of the air with ease.
Mahomes didn’t just lose Tyreek Hill this offseason, but he also lost veteran guys like Byron Pringle and Demarcus Robinson. They had years of chemistry coming up through the Chiefs’ system together and now he’s having to start from scratch in a sense. The time he’s spending with his new teammates during the offseason is setting the foundation for what will be built throughout the entire offseason program.
“First off, it’s about me building that timing with those guys,” Mahomes said. “I’ve got to make sure I’m on that same timing that I was with Tyreek, (Byron) Pringle and D-Rob (Demarcus Robinson) these last few years. That’s why we’re doing what we are doing now.”
As for what will be different with the offense next season, Mahomes seems to expect a more balanced approach. He doesn’t think that teams will be able to take away the things they want to do quite as easily as they did in 2021 with such a diverse group of weapons to utilize. It’s not just the receivers either, but also the tight ends and running backs.
“Just having the different variety is going to be huge for us,” Mahomes continued. “The defense doesn’t know where the ball is going to. We have so many different guys that can make plays and do stuff out there. I’m just excited to be able to go out there and spread the football around. Be able to run the football, I think our offensive line last year was one of the best, if not the best, offensive lines in the league. Being able to run the football with them as well will make our offense more diverse and more successful in the long run.”
