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Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is known for his ridiculous highlight-reel throws. However, when it comes to improving for the 2020 season, it might come down to the normal throws according to NFL Network Analyst and Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner.
Warner recently appeared on NFL Network and was asked about the ways in which Mahomes can get even better for the upcoming season. Warner prefaced his answer by saying he believed it’s a loaded question. How can a guy who has crushed league records, become NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in just two seasons as a starter possibly get better? The answer for Warner comes from Mahomes’ self-scouting.
“I heard Patrick Mahomes talking about it last year,” Warner said. “How he goes back and he self scouts and he self scouts his technique and specifically his footwork. That’s one thing that I’ll notice. When you get talented guys like Patrick Mahomes, like Aaron Rodgers, they’re so used to getting away with doing things with their special arms and special arm talent that they get away with bad footwork sometimes. Their feet will be moving and going one direction, [while they’re] trying to jam throws in the other direction. We saw a couple of these in the Super Bowl as we’re looking at here. He finds himself stepping one direction, trying to throw it another direction, the balls will get away from him a little bit and lead to bad plays. Now he’s usually able to overcome that with the special plays that he makes. But if he can clean up his footwork and become more efficient from throw to throw to throw, not just the big throws, but on the normal everyday throws that you’re asked to make, I think Patrick Mahomes can get better than he’s been over these first few years. And we all know he’s been incredible.”
Mahomes is well ahead of Warner on this one. The major thing he’s been working on this offseason has been his footwork. Mahomes revealed in a recent chat with Steelers legend Troy Polamalu that he’s been working on his footwork while he’s forced to remain at home because of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s the one thing he can work on without being around teammates and the coaching staff.
It wasn’t long ago that draft analysts were saying the biggest reason that Mahomes couldn’t be successful in the NFL was his footwork. Perhaps this offseason was the perfect storm for Mahomes to improve in that one area.
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