Kansas City Chiefs trade up, take QB Patrick Mahomes at No. 10 in NFL Draft

By Andre Vergara
Published

The Kansas City Chiefs traded up to take Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes II at No. 10 in the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

"Once the trade went through on the TV, I got a call and they said they were going to pick me, and just pure excitement," Mahomes told the Associated Press. "It's something I've always dreamed of and going to an organization like this is something I've always dreamed of as well."

The Buffalo Bills received the 27th pick, which they used to select LSU cornerback Tre'Davious White, plus a third-rounder (No. 91) and a 2018 first-rounder.

It's the first time Kansas City took a quarterback in the first round since Todd Blackledge in 1983. Mahomes, the second QB taken in the draft behind Mitchell Trubisky, joins Donovan McNabb as the only QBs drafted by Andy Reid. The Chiefs coach now has a young QB to groom under veteran Alex Smith, who has two years remaining on his contract but becomes inexpensive to release after next season if Mahomes comes along quickly.

"Right now, Patrick isn't absolutely ready to play. He's got some work to do," Reid told reporters. "But he's coming into a great room, he has an opportunity to learn from Alex, which will be a great for him. We have to have some patience with him, but he has tremendous upside."

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Mahomes, a rocket-armed QB who can throw the ball 80 yards, posted up eye-popping numbers in the pass-heavy Air Raid offense, throwing for 5,052 yards and finishing with 53 total touchdowns. He became the third player in Football Bowl Subdivision history with multiple seasons of 5,000 yards total offense, and accounted for 93 career touchdowns.

His gun-slinger style has even drawn comparisons to Brett Favre.

"They're different players. Brett is a Hall of Fame player. This kid has a long way to go before that," Reid told reporters, "but when you have an opportunity to talk to them and be around him and feel a certain energy, and then you see him practice, you'll see a certain intensity you like."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.