Kent Swanson: Building the Offense for Patrick Mahomes - Article Series

[Dante84]

Kent is the new "Seth" over at AP since Seth went to the Athletic, and I think he may be better from a football perspective.

He's put together this series of how he would design a Mahomes-led offense this year, and it's been a good read.

Sharing it here in the first group of posts in the event y'all want to read as well.

Series Overview:

In the flurry of offseason moves and drama surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs this year, it feels like we don’t always remember or truly comprehend a pretty important thing: Patrick Mahomes will be leading the offense this year. Not just a throw-away Week 17 game in Denver. The whole season. From day one. It still doesn’t seem completely tangible yet. We’re still in unfamiliar territory as Chiefs fans.

Sure, he’s all over the news. But have you really sat down and spent much time thinking about what we’re all about to experience? The guy that ended the Chiefs 30-plus year drought of first round quarterbacks is now the guy. Similarly to how crazed the days leading up to the road win in Denver were, I think the closer we get, the more we’ll settle into that reality. Part of it is just the unknowns about a Mahomes-led offense. The training wheels are about to come off.

I’ve spent some time thinking about the elements I want to see included in a Patrick Mahomes offense. So much so, that we’ll be building it the next few months here on Arrowhead Pride.

The Chiefs averaged about 61 plays per game last year. We’ll bump that up to 65 and breakdown the types of plays and concepts, and the frequency I would like to see them run. We’ll be doing this as if the game script is neutral, not requiring them to play catch up or protect a lead. This is about the baseline concepts and ways I would like to see the offense function.

Before we get into specifics, we need to talk about the overarching philosophy I would like the Chiefs to employ with their young signal caller. The Chiefs have built a terrifying offense. There are threats all over the field. Sammy Watkins and Tyreek Hill will likely frequently line up outside the numbers. Travis Kelce will be working in the middle of the field. Kareem Hunt will be carrying the bulk of the load in the run game. Defenses are already stretched thin. The Chiefs have given Mahomes every possible weapon around him to succeed.

Luckily, the Chiefs also happen to have one of the greatest offensive minds in the game as their head coach as well. He has a knack for building around a player’s strengths. Andy Reid will have plenty to work with Mahomes.

I think the plan should be to find ways to utilize his quick release, immense arm talent and touch while trying to manage the risk involved with what they ask Mahomes to do. Teams are always scheming up easy throws for their quarterbacks. Reid is the best at it. What if your quarterback can throw a ball accurately from odd platforms with rare quickness but also stretch the field with the best of them?

I have a few ideas on how to make it easy on Mahomes while letting his special talents shine through it all.

Part 1: Run-Pass Options

Part 2: Breaking Tendencies

Part 3: Empty Formations

Part 4: Two RB Sets

Part 5: Play Action From Under Center

Part 6: Condensed Formations

Part 7: Sprint Out of the Passing Game

Part 8: Screen Passes

[Easy 6]

Briefly looked this over last night, and yeah this Swanson guy reeeally puts in work... very impressive debut

AP has always been a cut above their amateur peers IMO, and this guy might take them to a new level