Tag: QB

WATCH: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes introduces ‘Madden NFL 21’ in reveal trailer

The Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback isn’t on the cover of Madden anymore, but he’s still playing a part in the marketing for the game.

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes won’t be on the cover art of the next iteration of the “Madden NFL” video game franchise, but he’s still playing a role in marketing the game. During Microsoft’s Inside Xbox reveal event showcasing exclusive video games for the new Xbox Series X console, the Chiefs’ starting quarterback had the opportunity to introduce fans to a first look at “Madden NFL 21”.

“What’s up everybody, thanks for letting me crash this show,” Mahomes begins. “This is Patrick Mahomes quarterback for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. I hope all of you have been staying home, staying safe and playing a ton of video games together. But hey I’m here because I have the privilege of telling you this, Madden 21 is coming to Xbox Series X and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. It has been a journey that is older than me and I was lucky enough to be a part of it this year. Like they say, ‘You have to know where you’ve been to know where you’re about to go.”

The way Mahomes lit up when talking about being the starting quarterback for the Super Bowl champion Chiefs was amazing. Mahomes finished up the advertisement teasing a nice feature for Xbox One gamers.

“There is loads of Madden 21 news coming soon and the game isn’t just about what you can see, it’s about what you can feel,” Mahomes said. “But here is the best news: When you buy ‘Madden NFL 21’ on Xbox One, you get it free on Xbox Series X. I’m looking forward to it and honestly I’m just ready to get back on the field.”

While the trailer doesn’t feature much new gameplay footage, the language Mahomes uses, saying that the game is about “what you can feel” is interesting. Perhaps he’s hinting at some new gameplay innovations coming to the series.

Also, I think I can speak for all of Chiefs Kingdom when I say, “We can’t wait for you to get back on the field too, Patrick.”

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Patrick Mahomes explains why he wanted Chiefs to draft Clyde Edwards-Helaire

It’s safe to say that Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is excited about his new running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire,

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Shortly after the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs revealed that RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a player that Patrick Mahomes wanted on the Chiefs. Brett Veach sent Mahomes a text message during the first round of the draft, unprompted, and asked him to name three players that he would want in Kansas City. Edwards-Helaire’s name was the first that Mahomes replied back with.

During Friday’s conference call with local media, Mahomes had an opportunity to reveal what he liked most about Edwards-Helaire.

“I think the first thing that stood out from Clyde is when the competition and the games got bigger, it seemed like he played better,” Mahomes said. “I always like guys that can rise to the competition, and whenever you’re on the biggest stage, you play your best football, and you rise up and compete with your team. So, that was the first thing that stood out to me as I watched the College Football Playoff and at the end of the college football season. The way he’s able to catch the ball out of the backfield but still be able to run rough between the tackles.”

Edwards-Helaire played in and won the College Football Playoff National Championship against Clemson. He had seven 100-yard rushing games on the season, with two coming against top-ranked schools like Alabama and Georgia. Five others came against SEC schools like Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi and Vanderbilt.

Apart from his football ability, Mahomes was excited to add more character and competition to the running back room.

“You can tell he’s a high-character guy,” Mahomes continued. “He loves football. For me, he (General Manager Brett Veach) asked me, and obviously, I wanted to add to the offense, obviously to help me out and to help our team out. So, Clyde was the first name that came to mind and I know we have a great running back room already, so I think just bringing him in, I know he’ll fit right in and he’ll compete. And we’ll be able to bring the best out of each other, ever single position group, and go out there and play our best football hopefully this next season.”

It’s not the most shocking thing in the world that Mahomes was thinking about adding to and helping out the offense. It’s also not surprising that he chose a player who caught 55 passes last season for over 400 yards.

Later, Mahomes would tell reporters that having a good running game takes the Chiefs’ offense up a notch, citing the late-season explosion by Damien Williams. He’s clearly quite excited about the competition brewing in the Chiefs’ locker room, thinking it will bring out the best in all of them.

“As far as the running backs with Clyde and those guys, I think if you look at when we had Damien (Williams) rolling and he was healthy and how much he really expanded our game, our team and the way he was playing in the playoffs and then the Super Bowl and how he was able to kind of take our offense to the next level, I think in any offense, you have to have that running game to really take it over the top. So, to have him, getting Darrel Williams back, getting Darwin Thompson more accustomed to the offense and then letting him get more and more ingrained. And then adding Clyde and DeAndré (Washington), I think we’re going to have a lot of great running backs that will be able to really care and put in the work to be the best.”

The analytics experts might disagree with Mahomes on the importance of a running game, but I’ll trust the guy playing every down on offense. If adding Edwards-Helaire gives Mahomes any more confidence to go out there and do what he does best, it’s a worthy investment that will pay dividends for Kansas City.

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Report: Chiefs exercise fifth-year option of star QB Patrick Mahomes

By exercising the fifth-year deadline the Chiefs have bought themselves more time before signing Patrick Mahomes to a mega-deal.

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The Kansas City Chiefs have exercised the fifth-year contract option of star QB Patrick Mahomes, according to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Terez Paylor.

With the deadline for contract options coming up on May 4, the Chiefs took swift action here. This decision wasn’t exactly a tough one for the team and was somewhat expected after general manager Brett Veach left the option on the table during his pre-draft press conference.

“I can’t say that the fifth-year [contract option] won’t be an option or anything like that,” Veach said. “It’d be hard for me to say that we’d have to use that. We feel that it is a priority when you have a great player, and when a great player is a priority, things get done.”

Just because the fifth-year option has been exercised doesn’t mean that the Chiefs will not come to an agreement on a long-term contract extension with Mahomes. The expectation is still that Mahomes will still sign a new contract, the fifth-year option just provides more time to get an eventual deal done with Mahomes, the Chiefs just aren’t ready to put a timeline on when that contract might happen.

“I really can’t say it’s something that’s going to happen in the next three months, the next six months,” Chiefs CEO and Chairman Clark Hunt said during the 2020 NFL Draft. “It’s a priority for us and it’s also a priority for Patrick’s team, so I know it’s something that’s going to get done in the near-term. Anytime that we’re talking about a big contract for the Kansas City Chiefs, I’m intimately involved in those conversations with Brett and his cap staff. I don’t want to say that we’ve been talking about this weekly because Brett’s been very focused on the draft. As you know, and I know you’ve spoken to Brett and Andy, a lot of preparation had to go into turning this into a virtual draft and that was a challenge for everybody. So, Patrick’s contract hasn’t been a priority here over the last month, but going forward it will be.”

You’ve heard it from the top decision-maker in the organization, with the NFL Draft in the rearview, a long-term deal with Mahomes will be the priority in Kansas City moving forward. In the unlikely scenario that Mahomes does play on the fifth-year option in 2021, he’ll be paid $24.8 million which all counts against the salary cap. The option is also guaranteed in case of injury.

2020 NFL Draft: Cowboys take 7th-round flyer on little known, championship game QB

QB Ben DiNucci wraps up the Cowboys 2020 draft class, selected out of James Madison University.

Wrapping up their 2020 draft class, the Cowboys selected James Madison QB Ben DiNucci in Round 7, No. 231 overall. Seemingly plucked from obscurity, DiNucci caps off a truly stunning first draft for Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys, and represents one last lotto ticket the team can hold onto.

A redshirt FCS senior, DiNucci transferred to James Madison from Pittsburgh in 2018. In two seasons, DiNucci threw for 5,716 yards and 45 touchdowns, finishing fourth all-time at JMU in each category. In 2019, he scored 36 total touchdowns (29 passing, seven rushing) and accounted for over 4,000 total yards of offense.

DiNucci led JMU to the FCS Championship Game last year, where they fell 28-20 to Division I powerhouse North Dakota State. In the game, he completed 22 of 33 passes for 204 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. But DiNucci’s performance and unlikely journey definitely caught the attention of NFL scouts, and especially intrigued Dallas.

With only Cooper Rush and Clayton Thorson as QB depth behind Dak Prescott, DiNucci has chance to latch on and develop as an NFL prospect under the watchful eye of McCarthy and his staff.

After seemingly crushing each pick before, having DiNucci hit would be the feather in the cap of a masterful 2020 NFL draft the Cowboys. With spirits high, we’ll let this questionable old tweet from DiNucci slide, and let him carve his own path in Dallas.

Chiefs reveal Patrick Mahomes hand-picked RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Brett Veach asked for Patrick Mahomes’ input with the Kansas City Chiefs’ first-round draft pick.

The Kansas City Chiefs selected LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire with pick No. 32 in the first round, but it wasn’t without a little insight from their most important player.

The Chiefs called up Edwards-Helaire with Clark Hunt, Andy Reid, Brett Veach, Eric Bieniemy, and Deland McCullough to congratulate him on joining Kansas City. In the call, they let him, and the rest of Chiefs Kingdom in on a little piece of information. Both Reid and Veach revealed that Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes had hand-picked Edwards-Helaire as the player that he wanted for the Chiefs. And so, they made it happen.

“Hey, listen we’re fired up for you, man,” Andy Reid began. “We asked Pat Mahomes, ‘Who do you want?’ And he picked you. How great is that?”

“I’m ready to work coach you know that,” Edwards-Helaire responded.

“… Coach and I were thinking your way,” Veach said. “Then when we texted Pat [Mahomes] and I said, ‘Give me a name and don’t think about it.’ And he said, ‘Clyde [Edwards-Helaire] and I said, ‘We’re good.'”

It seems that not only Veach, Reid and the rest of the coaching staff were in agreement on Edwards-Helaire, but the star quarterback also recognized that he was a special talent worthy of a first-round selection too. Be sure to watch the video for more from Reid, Bieniemy, McCullough and Chiefs president Mark Donovan. As well as more from the newest RB for the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is No. 1 top-selling player in NFL merchandise for 2019

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is the top-selling player in the NFL, passing Tom Brady for the top spot.

Back in January, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was expected to become the top-selling player in NFL merchandise sales for the 2019 season.

At that time, Mahomes led the NFLPA’s list of top-selling players from Mar. 1 through Nov. 30 of the 2019 season. According to the NFLPA’s official report of top-selling players, Mahomes has officially been deemed the No. 1 player in merchandise sales from Mar. 1 through Feb. 29. The NFLPA’s list tracks the sales of jerseys, trading cards, wall decals, t-shirt’s, bobbleheads and more.

Mahomes has seen a cascade of popularity, building since his 2018 MVP season. It earned him plenty of recognition in the NFL limelight and helped him build up his own brand. He would become the Madden NFL 20 cover athlete. Then in 2019, he got back to the postseason and took the Chiefs on a magical run, mounting comeback victory after comeback victory, winning Super Bowl LIV, ending a 50-year drought in Kansas City and becoming Super Bowl MVP in the process.

His No. 15 jerseys and any officially-licensed NFL gear with the name Mahomes on it has been coveted because of his impact on the team and around the community in Kansas City. Young players are already beginning to model their game like his and trying to make impossible throws possible. He’s not only the most exciting player in the NFL, but he’s beginning to shape the future of the sport.

Over the past three seasons, Tom Brady has reigned over the No. 1 spot. Now he’s slotted at the No. 2 spot, which is nothing to be ashamed of. Even though the 42-year-old Brady is heading to a new chapter in Tampa Bay, people seem more excited about the young gunslinger Mahomes and what his future holds.

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Brett Veach says Chiefs ‘have a lot of time to work with’ on signing QB Patrick Mahomes to an extension

There is currently no timetable for a Patrick Mahomes contract extension and Brett Veach says the fifth-year option is still on the table.

The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t been in a rush to sign star QB Patrick Mahomes to an extension.

The language from both Brett Veach and Clark Hunt has been consistent regarding Mahomes as we get closer to a potential contract extension. The team is more than confident that Mahomes will remain in Kansas City and a deal will get done. They’re less confident about putting a timetable on when a long-term extension might happen.

When Veach spoke to members of the media in a conference call on Thursday, he reiterated that Mahomes is a priority for the Chiefs.

“Pat [Mahomes] is a priority, ” Veach said. “The way we look at it now, with all that is going on, we’re going to have a lot of time to work with. Again, Pat and his agents Chris [Cabbott] and Leigh [Steinberg], know that Pat is a priority. Pat isn’t going anywhere, he’s going to be here for a long time. I can’t sit here and speak definitively, I can’t say that the fifth-year [contract option] won’t be an option or anything like that. It’d be hard for me to say that we’d have to use that. We feel that it is a priority when you have a great player, and when a great player is a priority, things get done. It’s just hard to put a timetable on exactly when and how it will all work out. But we know and I’m sure he knows that it will get done and be taken care of.”

Veach appears to be keeping their options open, and it’s not because they’re uninterested in re-signing Mahomes long-term, it’s for the sake of flexibility. He even left the idea on the table for the fifth-year option to be something that is used on Mahomes, perhaps to extend their negotiating window.

Were Kansas City to exercise a fifth-year option on Patrick Mahomes’ contract, they’d have to do so by May 30, 2020. Keep in mind that fifth-year options are guaranteed for injury, and for the quarterback position the amount should be over $24 million in cost for that fifth year. Picking up the fifth-year option would also open up the possibility of the franchise tag being used the following year.

At the end of the day, we shouldn’t expect any traction on Mahomes’ contract before the draft. While his contract is a priority for the Chiefs, it isn’t as pressing of a matter as some seem to believe.

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Report: Chiefs had video conference with sleeper QB prospect Reid Sinnett

The Kansas City Chiefs will leave no stone unturned during the pre-draft process, meeting with a sleeper QB prospect out of the FCS.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to make the rounds in the pre-draft process, speaking with a variety of prospects.

While the quarterback room in Kansas City is looking plentiful, you can never have too many players at the position. The Chiefs haven’t shown much interest in this quarterback class, but it appears they’re doing some work on a sleeper prospect. According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Chiefs are among the eight teams that had video conferences with San Diego QB Reid Sinnett.

You might not have heard much about Sinnett, but the redshirt senior was one of the top passers in the FCS during 2019. He completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,528 yards, 32 touchdowns and had just 10 interceptions on the season. He also added another 174 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.

The 6-4 225-pound QB was named team captain and a starter in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl for the National team. Sinnett jumped onto the scene with a strong week of practice and drew strong praise from head coach Marvin Lewis and QB coach Jeff Blake.

There was hope that he’d continue his strong pre-draft process with a Pro Day, but alas, it was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately he settled for a videotaped throwing session with his teammate Michael Bandy.

It’s easy to see the fit of Sinnett in Kansas City. He’s a smart and patient passer that doesn’t turn the ball over too often. He does a good job throwing on the move and picks up hidden yards on the ground. While Sinnett is a longshot to be drafted, he’s the type of guy who could come in as an undrafted free agent and turn some heads.

Brian Lewerke On Breaking Michigan State Records, Best Spartan Memories

2020 NFL Draft prospect and record-breaking Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke discusses how he’s getting ready for the NFL, his favorite memories from being a Spartan, the NFL Scouting Combine experience, and more.

2020 NFL Draft prospect and record-breaking Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke discusses how he’s getting ready for the NFL, his favorite memories from being a Spartan, the NFL Scouting Combine experience, and more.

4 things to know about new Chiefs QB Jordan Ta’amu

Get to know the newest member of the Kansas City Chiefs, QB Jordan Ta’amu.

The Kansas City Chiefs recently agreed to terms with XFL standout QB Jordan Ta’amu on a one-year deal. After proving himself through five games with the St. Louis BattleHawks, Ta’amu is getting a shot in the NFL with the Super Bowl champs. Here’s a look at four things the Chiefs Kingdom should know about their newest player:

Photo by Michael B. Thomas /Getty Images

Ta’amu is from Pearl City, Hawaii but is of Samoan descent

Ta’amu grew up in Pearl City, which is on the Island of Oahu. One thing that impacted Ta’amu during his upbringing was the friendliness and family feel of island-life. It influenced his decision when he chose to transfer to Ole Miss. The Chiefs Kingdom will likely have that same feel for him once he arrives in Kansas City.

In his early days at Oxford, Mississippi he earned the nickname the “Flyin’ Hawaiian.” Later he opted for a nickname previously held by former Bengals and Bucs QB Jack Thompson because Ta’amu is actually of Samoan descent.

So if you’re looking for a nickname for Ta’amu, stick with the “Throwin Samoan.”

Ta’amu is friends with another Samoan quarterback from Hawaii who is currently preparing for the 2020 NFL draft — Alabama’s Tua Tagavailoa. The two players grew up training together in Hawaii and remain good friends to this day.

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