Patrick Mahomes Already Showing Transformed Play Style for 2024

Anyone who bashed Patrick Mahomes for his reduced passing production last season were either uninformed or disingenuous. With fewer playmakers, the entire Kansas City Chiefs passing attack was a different beast than we've seen in the past.

Maybe more telling than any other number was his average depth of target (aDOT), which sat at just 6.5 yards. That's compared to a career-high 9.1-yard mark in 2018, or even a 7.2-yard mark in 2022. We've never seen Mahomes throwing short as much as he did last year, and we've also never seen him with fewer deep threats.

Well that has completely changed ahead of 2024. If you're wondering about the impacts of Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy on the offense, the beginning of the Chiefs' first full-pad training camp practice gave some insight.

After a video went viral of Mahomes slinging it to Worthy earlier in the week, that trend has held up in a more game-like practice session as well. Worthy is getting starter reps on the outside, and Mahomes is enamored with the idea of finally having someone to stretch the field in a way he hasn't had since Tyreek Hill left.

This is almost a "best of both worlds" situation too. Mahomes was forced to work on his ability to work on underneath short-yardage routes over the last couple of seasons. And he's become elite in that area as well. So now with that expanded skill set plus going back to his bread and butter with the deep ball. That's going to be all kinds of difficult for opposing defenses to stop.

Mahomes is a +500 favorite to win MVP this season on FanDuel Sportsbook, giving him a significant lead over Josh Allen (+800) in second place and C.J. Stroud and Joe Burrow (+1000) tied for third.

Considering Mahomes' first MVP came the year he posted the highest aDOT of his career, this new-look offense should position him incredibly well to win his third — not to mention to bring the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl.

More Kansas City Chiefs news and analysis: