Kelechi Osemele has officially been a member of the Kansas City Chiefs for less than a week.
Osemele is still getting his footing in a new system, adjusting to life in the Chiefs’ offense. One adjustment that he’ll have to make is learning to play with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. When Osemele was asked to give his initial impression of Mahomes during Tuesday’s training camp press conferences, it left him smiling from ear-to-ear.
“It has been crazy, man,” Osemele said. “It has been crazy seeing him at practice, just like casually throwing the ball 70 yards, just like flicking it. That’s been crazy to see and his speed as well, on option plays and stuff like that. Also his intelligence, all the different cadences that he rattles through and checking audibles. For a guy that young to have command like that, his confidence is pretty impressive for how young he is. That’s been pretty cool to see firsthand, up close.”
It has been awe-inspiring for Osemele to see Mahomes’ cannon-arm, speed and command of the offense in person. To this point, a lot of it was only things that he’d seen or heard about Mahomes as an opponent. Now, as a teammate, he’s getting a different vantage point.
“I’ve had a little bit of experience with guys that are mobile,” Osemele said. “When I was in Baltimore, my backup quarterback, I had a pretty athletic guy back there. I had a little bit of experience with Sam (Darnold). He’s faster than people think and he’ll scramble around a little bit as well. Obviously, Derek (Carr) is a guy who is pretty athletic and likes to move around and get outside of the pocket and make plays. I’ve had a few quarterbacks that scramble around and do that.”
Osemele feels comfortable working with a quarterback that plays the sort of backyard football that Mahomes does. In fact, he’s excited to have a quarterback that plays that way because it allows the type of aggressive play that he’s grown accustomed to.
“It makes it fun because you get to react,” Osemele continued. “You’re blocking your guy and you kind of see his eyes light up and he drops back so you get to be the aggressor, which I kind of like to do in pass pro. It actually makes it a little bit more fun and exciting. You’re not just sitting back and setting, anything can happen at any moment. To me that makes the game more fun, more exciting. It’s going to be fun to be back there with a playmaker like that, knowing that the play can get extended and he can get outside of the pocket. I can pick up an extra blocker or cut somebody, hit somebody trying to jump, put his hands in the air or something like that. I’m excited about it.”
From the sound of it, Osemele is a perfect match for the type of playmaker Kansas City has at the quarterback position.
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