No-look passes, missiles up the seem, majestic deep throws that seem to float down perfectly from the heavens up above; yeah, Patrick Mahomes pretty much has every throw in the book. And yet, when he was coming out of Texas Tech in 2017, some doubted his ability, including a fellow rookie who was fighting for his own piece of the draft pie, DeShone Kizer.
Now, we all know draft prospects say a lot of things ahead of the draft to prop up their position. It’s part of the game. Hell, Ryan Leaf thought he was better than Peyton Manning. But while some of the statements come true and some don’t, this is an all-timer from Kizer.
Thanks to a Reddit user who unearthed his USA Today interview, we now have this 2017 gem from Kiser, who said this quote was taken out of context, but honestly, it is still pretty bad.
“Name a college quarterback who goes into the game-plan meetings on Monday and throws his notes at the coaches,” Kizer told USA Today. “No one else game plans the way I do. No one else prepares the way I do. No one else knows football the way I do. No one else is as big as I am. No one else is as powerful a runner as I am. Pat Mahomes might throw the ball 80 yards and I can only throw the ball 72, but I guarantee he can’t throw an out route the way I can.”
Well, Kizer was just cut by his second team and appears on his way out of the NFL despite being picked up by the Raiders, who now have four QBs on their roster and likely won’t keep all for the Week 1 kick off. Mahomes, well, we all know about him and the MVP he won last year for throwing 50 TDs and 5,000 yards, many of which undoubtedly came on out routes.
No need to pile on Kizer, because he’s got enough people who love to hate him I’m sure. And the reality is he was a kid trying to make as much money as he could coming out of college when he said that and, I imagine, also wanted to sound confident to all the GMs considering him or another QB. But that’s an all-time cold take for sure and could be around for the next 20 years if he’s not careful.
