The 2017 NFL regular season has yet to begin but Kansas City Chiefs rookie gunslinger Patrick Mahomes II has already made progress in his young professional career.

After an impressive preseason debut, albeit in a 27-17 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers last Friday, Mahomes has been moved up by the Chiefs to No. 2 on the quarterback depth chart behind starter Alex Smith, according to ESPN's Adam Teicher. Treicher also quoted Kansas City head coach Andy Reid's reasoning of why the team decided to promote Mahomes.

“It's not because of Tyler's performance in the game,” Reid said of Bray, who threw an interception in his first series Friday against the San Francisco 49ers. “I thought he actually did very well … and Patrick did a nice job, too. It gives [Mahomes] an opportunity to step up and work with that second group and see what he can do there.

Against the Niners, the former Texas Tech Red Raider threw for 49 yards on 7 of 9 passing with a touchdown and zero interceptions. Mahomes, however, wasn't able to showcase his ground game, as he didn't make a single rushing attempt.

Mahomes, who was selected 10th overall in this year's NFL Draft, led the nation last year in passing yards and was tied for second in the Big 12 in rushing touchdowns, will get his next opportunity to further impress Reid and the Chief's coaching staff  this coming Saturday, when Kansas City visits the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.