The Kansas City Chiefs made headlines for their blockbuster trade of quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins in exchange for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick. Among Smith's notable former teammates to express their dismay was tight end Travis Kelce.

Smith is the only quarterback Kelce has played with through his first four years in the NFL. The star tight end admitted during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show that things will be a bit different with quarterback Patrick Mahomes under center, although he said the “expectation is definitely high”:

“So it’s going to be awkward going into a huddle, like I said, with anybody but Alex, but I know Pat is ready for the opportunity,” Kelce said. “He’s taken a lot of mental reps and a lot of notes from Alex on how this thing should be run. Alex ran it to an absolute T this past season and, obviously, everyone’s excited to see what [Mahomes] can do.”

It is clear that Smith and Kelce built quite the relationship during their time together in Kansas City. Their rapport helped them both reach three Pro Bowls. Kelce credits a lot of his success and development to the veteran quarterback.

However, the Chiefs are now ready to officially usher in the Mahomes era. Despite Smith's success in recent years, there was a growing speculation that Kansas City would eventually move on, especially given everything the Texas Tech product demonstrated in the preseason and Week 17.

When asked by the NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano and Brian Billick if the Chiefs can win a title with Mahomes under center, Kelce provided a resounding yes:

“Yeah, without a doubt. I feel like Patty Cakes can come in and roll the dice on anybody… He can throw the ball any way, he can throw it off his back foot and he can jump and throw, he can throw the ball anywhere, anyway you need for it to be thrown. His confidence is definitely one of the best attributes to his game.”

The writing was on the wall once the Chiefs selected Mahomes with the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. High expectations have been placed on the young quarterback in 2018, starting with Kelce.