Patrick Mahomes hype is on the rise in Kansas City

There’s no slowing down the love for Mahomes among Chiefs fans. We take a look at the Mahomes hype train and more in Tuesday’s Rise ‘n Grind.

by Rebecca Toback

Jul 31, 2018, 1:00 PM UTC

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

In 2017, we saw a quick glimpse of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the second to last week of the regular season. It was a meaningless game against the Denver Broncos as Kansas City already secured its place in the playoffs.

Mahomes went 22 for 35 for 284 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, two sacks, and a quarterback rating of 76.4. It wasn’t a great game by statistical measure, but it was just the beginning for Mahomes who is now set to take over as the starting quarterback in Kansas City following the Alex Smith trade this offseason.

Chiefs fans couldn’t be more excited about Mahomes. Over at Arrowhead Pride, they’ve created “Pat Tuesday,” to share Mahomes’ best college plays on a weekly basis. The hype is no joke. They say there’s a “mania” in KC over Mahomes.

So far, all has been going well for Mahomes during training camp. On Monday, he had some noticeable big gains to Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Sammy Watkins. And, his receivers can’t stop gushing over him.

“Pat is the first guy that I have played with that has the arm strength,” Hill said on Monday. “That’s not taking anything away from other quarterbacks I have played with, but Pat is something special.”

“He’s just going in there with confidence, talking to everybody, making the calls,” Kareem Hunt said earlier this offseason. “You could see he really wants to win and be a good quarterback.”

And, his backup — an 11 year NFL veteran — is impressed, too. Chad Henne says Mahomes has one of the strongest arms he’s ever seen. “I came out with Joe Flacco, so I felt Joe had a strong arm. I was around Ryan Mallet for a little bit at Michigan when he was a freshman —those big guys that can really hose it in there, but for Pat’s size, I haven’t seen anything like it,” Henne said.

Obviously, the focus is all on Mahomes at Chiefs camp. And for good reason. He will be the most important player on Kansas City’s roster this year. It’s a good sign that he’s making plays like this and this and this. One thing’s for certain; Mahomes doesn’t let a little rain stop him from making plays.