Patrick Mahomes is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL and he can credit part of his success to Alex Smith. Ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl matchup on Sunday, Andy Reid spoke about Smith's role on Mahomes' career.
“How to study, diet, his workout regimen, and how to get family acclimated into the NFL,” Reid said, via NBCSportsWashington. “Pat couldn’t pay Alex enough for what he taught him.”
When Mahomes was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Chiefs still had Smith as their starting quarterback. The Texas Tech product would spend the entire 2017 season under the tutelage of Smith.
Then, in 2018, Kansas City unleashed Mahomes and he took the league by storm. In his second season in the NFL, Mahomes was able to complete 50 touchdowns and 5,097 yards en route to winning the NFL's MVP award.
For an encore, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl appearance in 2019. As naturally gifted as Mahomes is, it helped for him to experience playing behind Smith.
Ironically, Kansas City will face the team that drafted Smith in the Super Bowl; the San Francisco 49ers. Therefore, unless he uses recency bias, Smith likely won't have a rooting interest in Sunday's game.
Ahead of the offseason, it's already been reported that the Chiefs want to extend Mahomes within the next year or so. Without a doubt, Mahomes is going to shake up the current quarterback market with his next deal. Regardless of what he receives, Smith could receive a thank you from Mahomes in the form of monetary value.
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