Three reasons 2021 will be Patrick Mahomes’ best season yet
![Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs l (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs l (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/b64c310fb2e1f6a0e9757299003341d017c044479b600526d1489f5fdfc85946.jpg)
Please note that the author of the following article, Cameron Black, is legally blind.
Patrick Mahomes has reached a level of fame that could match any other athlete in the history of his sport or any other. He has already been league MVP, 2-time AFC champion in three seasons, a Super Bowl champion after just two seasons, (we’ll touch on that later) and has helped the Chiefs maintain their strangle hold on the AFC West. Not only all that, but in my humble and totally unbiased opinion, Patrick Mahomes is without a doubt the face of NFL football more than any other player including the great Tom Brady, and you know what? In the year 2021, he is only going to get better.
That’s right, I typed the words above correctly. Mahomes has sky rocketed into success in his first 3 years as a starter, and he is not done rising. I have good reasons to believe that 2021 will prove to be Mahomes’ best year yet and there is no doubt in my mind that Patrick Mahomes will lead the Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl appearance.
I have 3 reasons why I place my faith in the greatness of Mahomes so vehemently, and in the next few paragraphs I will make those reasons readily available to you, and when I am done you will be buying your ticket to climb aboard the Mahomes hype train. (if you’re not already on board that is)
Offensive Line
So, I don’t know how many of you happened to catch Super Bowl LV, or if you have just blocked it out entirely I can’t hardly blame you, but whether I want to or not, I clearly remember a frantic Patrick Mahomes running for his life behind an offensive line that had been slapped together with chewing gum and duct tape. I saw Mahomes attempt to make what probably would have been amazing completed passes, had he had the protection providing him with half a second to throw them. (even his incompletions were incredible, like the one where he was almost parallel to the terf)
Anyway, my point is is that no team has ever won a super bowl with their offensive line missing 3 of 5 starters, and even the young phenom could not overcome that hard fact.
I’m throwing zero shade at those offensive linemen that played in Super Bowl LV. Chiefs Kingdom knows that they tried their absolute best and gave it their all, but going up against an incredibly stout Buccaneers defense with anything less then a stellar O-line is a recipe for disaster.
The Chiefs seemed to be well aware that among other reasons, the offensive line was the No. 1 reason that a loss was suffered in Super Bowl LV and once the dust of that defeat had settled and the offseason officially began, the Chiefs wasted no time addressing that glaring issue through free agency and the 2021 NFL draft.
The Chiefs acquired several offensive linemen during free agency, most notably Joe Thuney who came over from the New England Patriots, but without a doubt the most high profile player and the one that excited this sports fan the most was the massive trade with the Baltimore Ravens to acquire Pro-Bowl left tackle Orlando Brown just days before the NFL draft. It is expected that Brown will be taking the place of Eric Fisher on the left tackle side, protecting Mahomes blind side and keeping him up right.
A few days later on day two of the NFL draft, the Chiefs would select Creed Humphrey, Center from the University of Oklahoma, with the 63rd overall pick, solidifying the already improved offensive line. I have written in previous pieces, that Humphrey and Brown both hail from the Oklahoma Sooners, and it was indeed Brown who urged the Chiefs to select Humphrey at pick 63.
With the additions the Chiefs have made through free agency and the draft, and the return of everyone’s favorite doctor, right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif as well as 2020 draft pick Lucas Niang, the Chiefs offensive line might have gone from one of the flimsiest in the league, to one of the best in the league, which seems fitting since they will be protecting the best QB in the league.
Behind an offensive line as stout as this one promises to be, Mahomes should be able to thrive in 2021.