Patrick Mahomes Admits He Didn’t Know How To Read Defenses Until Last Year

Patrick Mahomes’ ceiling in the NFL is high.

At just 24 years old, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback already has a league MVP and Super Bowl MVP on his résumé.

It was enough to earn him a 10-year contract extension reportedly worth up to $503 million, which is the most lucrative deal in the history of sports.

But what’s even crazier is what Mahomes has been able to accomplish not only in his short time in the NFL, but his lack of experience at the quarterback position in general.

In a recent promotional video for “The Shop,” LeBron James’ HBO television series, Mahomes shared that he didn’t start playing the position until his junior year of high school.

He apparently didn’t know how to read a defense until halfway through the same season he earned the league MVP in 2018.

“I didn’t understand how to read defenses until halfway through last year,” Mahomes admitted. “I understood coverages, but how to be able to pick up little tendencies that defenses do, stuff that (Tom) Brady and them have done that they know it, I was just playing.

“This year I could actually recognize more and more stuff. And I think the more experience and the more I learn then I’ll be able to go out there and call plays and do that different stuff because I’ve seen it. And I still think there’s a long long way for me to go there. And that’s where mentally I think I can get better. Physically, I feel like I’ve done a lot of stuff. I always work on the fundamentals and doing that stuff, but I think mentally I can take my game to a whole ‘nother level.”

If Mahomes is just coming into his game mentally, then the rest of the NFL is in serious trouble.

More NFL: Here’s First Look At Cam Newton’s Three Different Patriots Uniforms