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Originally Posted by FAX
Lying with his eyes and body language to safeties wasn't exactly his strong suit at Tech. He did it, but he didn't do it all the time and he didn't sell it ... mainly because his footwork was so awkward and sporadic that the defense couldn't really tell what he was doing back there.
Fast forward to now and he's a much more detailed player. Still raw, but much better in his footwork, balance, and platform (fewer straight-leg throws, for example). Plus, he's calling protections, identifying coverages, manipulating defenses ... both pre- and post-snap.
But this is what strikes me; in the ESPN mini-doc, Kingsbury mentions that Mahomes was never "over-coached" in high school so "he has a different way of seeing the game". I think this is an insight that 's easy to overlook. It points to the idea that Mahomes has a basic, natural aptitude for playing the QB position. Kingsbury didn't overcoach him at Tech either, so his game looked a lot like street ball, which is a big reason why a lot of NFL scouts weren't sold.
Then, he reports to Wally's World and he has a coach who doesn't try to "re-make" him. Instead, Wally just helps him refine a few things and see the game a little differently.
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During the run-up to the 2017 draft in the QB impressions thread I was lampooning the 'wait 'till next year' crowd who was yapping about how much better '18 would be. I tried to draw parallel's between the respective classes and my opposite number for Mahomes was Josh Allen.
At the time I said the biggest difference mechanically was that Allen occasionally has good footwork and when he does, it's pretty good. I wouldn't know how Mahomes footwork is because it's just never good at all; he'd throw with his feet sideways and falling backwards on a screen pass - it just never seemed to be something he gave a damn about. I thought Allen's would need to be emphasized whereas Mahomes would need to have his re-worked altogether.
But I think you're right - rather than re-work it, Reid may have created a perfect monster of unorthodox but effective. Mahomes feet are LIGHT YEARS better than they were at Tech (or last pre-season), but they're still a little wonky at times. He still likes that back foot throw on occasion. But y'know what? Who cares? He always hits it. When he throws off the back foot, he's still putting it right where he wants it. And when he needs the fastball, he's not throwing off his back foot; he's driving into it just like he should (well, except for when he's throwing sidearm across his body while evading the rush into a tiny, rapidly closing window in the back corner of the endzone...man he's a freak).
They really are perfectly complementary people. You could not draw up a better coach for Mahomes in a lab. I've complemented McVay but I'm not sure he's the pure teacher that Reid is; more of an upjumped coordinator with a freakish eye for offense. Reid may not be quite McVay's equal tactically but he's also a spectacular teacher and truly loves that element of the game. What Reid has done to get all of the idiosyncratic things that Mahomes does to gel together into this world destroying Unicorn is just amazing.