The AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs are making a change at quarterback.
Kind of.
Rookie Patrick Mahomes will start at quarterback Sunday against the Denver Broncos, replacing starter Alex Smith under center. With the division title wrapped up and no possibility of moving out of the No. 4 seed, the Chiefs will see what they have in their first-year signal-caller.
However Mahomes performs shouldn’t have any bearing on this season, but it could reveal a lot for the Chiefs’ plans next season and beyond. The Chiefs traded up on draft day this year to nab Mahomes with the 10th overall pick, and the Texas Tech product is considered Kansas City’s quarterback of the future, although he has not taken a snap yet this season.
“Every snap he gets is a valuable snap for him, for whenever he has that chance of getting in there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, per ESPN.com. “Fortunately, we’re in a situation where we can do that.”
Mahomes, 22, played in all four preseason games, completing 34 of 54 pass attempts with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. He’ll become the first rookie QB to start a non-strike game for the Chiefs since 1979, according to ESPN.
