Patrick Mahomes II completed 65.7 percent of his passes for Texas Tech last season. He threw for 5,052 yards — 400 more than any other FBS quarterback — and 41 touchdowns. He averaged 8.6 yards per attempt, threw just one interception per 59 attempts, set the FBS single-game total yardage mark (819) and tied the single-game passing mark (734).
Despite a near-perfect season, Mahomes is flawed, by his own admission.
"I’m not perfect," he wrote in an NFL Draft cover letter for The Players' Tribune. "But football isn’t always perfect. It doesn’t always go the way you expect. I know that I might not have given the perfect answer for every one of your questions. You saw some mistakes on my tape, and I missed a couple of throws on pro day.
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A year ago, despite a stellar sophomore season with 4,653 yards and 36 touchdowns, the former MLB draft pick's pro football future was mostly bogged down with "system QB" criticism. Though that negative commentary has continued — and you'll hear it repeatedly during the 2017 NFL Draft and until he proves himself at the next level — Mahomes has fought it and rocketed up draft boards, going from fringe mid-round pick (in the 2018 draft) to potential first-rounder.
"Everything that critics want to knock me on, I know I can fix with hard work," he continued. "I am not a project quarterback. People who say that aren’t really watching my tape. I know that I can make any throw, especially when my team needs a big play.
You can read his entire cover letter at The Players' Tribune.
