Chiefs OC Matt Nagy reveals how he helped Patrick Mahomes get on Andy Reid's good side during pre-draft visit in 2017
The Kansas City Chiefs took a risk during the 2017 NFL Draft by trading up 17 spots in the first round to select quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Of course, it seems silly now to consider that being a risk, but at the time it was. Members of the Chiefs' coaching staff and front office were wowed […]
The Kansas City Chiefs took a risk during the 2017 NFL Draft by trading up 17 spots in the first round to select quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Of course, it seems silly now to consider that being a risk, but at the time it was. Members of the Chiefs' coaching staff and front office were wowed by Mahomes both on and off the field enough to make the bold move to get him.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy appeared on the New Heights podcast on Wednesday, and was ribbed by Travis and Jason Kelce for giving Mahomes answers to a test that would be given to him by coach Andy Reid during his pre-draft visit to Kansas City.
"It ended up working out pretty good," Nagy joked. "We knew how much (General manager Brett) Veach and coach Reid liked him, and I was in love with him too. You go into that process, and when you're convicted with somebody and you feel the way that we all did, I guess it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. I'll never forget it, we went off to the side [and went over] some simple plays, a few of them. I think it stayed pretty quiet for many years, and then I guess he's the one that busted it out a few years ago. Fortunately [it] ended up working out."
Mahomes actually first revealed the story during an appearance he made on New Heights back in 2022. Nagy played coy when asked about it, but obviously now everyone can sit back and laugh about it after Mahomes leading the Chiefs to three Super Bowl wins and winning two NFL MVPs along the way.
Nagy went on to detail why he and others were so convinced that they should draft Mahomes.
"You [couldn't] put the tape down," Nagy said. "You just want to keep watching more and more. And as you're watching it, you just see the plays that he's making, and these stupid throws that. No one's better than him when he's outside the pocket, running around. He can make special throws, and he was doing a lot of that. So the question was, what type of person is he? What's his football IQ like? Does he love the game? All the intangible things. Coach Reid and Veach were like, we got to take these quarterbacks, we got to bring them into the room and spend a good six to eight hours with each of these guys in that draft class. We knew how much we loved the player (Mahomes), but bringing him in and just seeing him take it to the top with the person side of it was unbelievable. You could just see he was special. We were all on board. It was all conviction, and we just couldn't put the film down. He was just special."
Kansas City obviously got the pick of the litter in the 2017 draft class. The only other QB that has had any significant success in their career is Deshaun Watson, and we obviously know that the Chiefs dodged a major bullet there. Mahomes is now entering his ninth NFL season and will strive to get back to MVP form and lead K.C. to its sixth Super Bowl appearance in seven years.