NFL Media's Oklahoma Drill series presents exclusive, quick-hitting one-on-one interviews with players and coaches from around the league. No nonsense -- just football experiences directly from the source.
Patrick Mahomes II
Quarterback, Texas Tech
Born: Sept. 17, 1995
Experience: 2017 NFL Draft prospect
Interview by Jeremy Bergman | April 18, 2017
I enjoyed [the draft process] but at the same time, it is tiring. But you get to meet some of the great offensive minds in football, so it's awesome. But you want to get drafted and get to a team and get to work out with them and build relationships with your teammates.
There are these great offensive coaches and head coaches and all of these people that just know football so well, so you're learning as you go. That's the biggest thing to me.
The most exhausting part of the last couple months would probably be all the medical stuff I have to do over and over again, but you understand why. You understand that [teams] are spending a lot of money to get you, so they want to check and make sure everything's OK. ... Everything's good. They have to make everybody do a medical on every visit and stuff like that.
I [have] visited 10 teams and worked out with eight. I believe that's the number.
I have one more visit. I'm not really allowed to say the team, as of right now. I have one more visit and I'm done. I get to go home and start working out and get ready for the draft.
I had to lose five pounds before I [entered] the draft, so I definitely had to cut down [on barbecue] because I really focused on losing that weight and having to eat a little bit healthier. That's how you have to do it.
I think I'm the best quarterback in the draft -- no offense to those guys. Those guys are great quarterbacks as well. But I mean, I feel like I have a lot of talent and I can do a lot of things not a lot of guys can do. It just goes with the passion I have for the game and the work ethic I'm going to show and be able to fix the things I need to fix.
I ran into Deshaun [Watson] once and that was the only time I've seen [other QB prospects during visits]. They really try to keep it separated. We all have our own days pretty much with the teams. It's a cool experience for sure.
Not [awkward] at all. ... We all understand what each person goes through because no one else does it. Quarterback is kind of a tight-knit group, I guess you would say. We're all competing against each other. At the same time, we all want each other to do good.
I decided not to go to Philadelphia. ... I'm gonna spend [the draft] with my family in Tyler, Texas. We'll have a party and have a little room where I can watch the draft and everything like that. It'll be an awesome experience.
I feel like a lot of us can [be starters in 2017]. ... How [offenses] are nowadays in the NFL with the shotguns and everything like that, as well as just how the game's changing, I feel like a lot of us can play. The team would have to help adapt us. I kind of like how they did with Dak Prescott and how they did with Carson Wentz. If you get a great coach and a great team around you, I think I could play early for sure.
If I have to sit behind someone, I'd be perfectly fine with it. I would just train like I was going into the season as the starter. And then when I got my opportunity, I'd be ready to go. You look at Dak, he did not expect to start immediately, but he really trained so he was gonna be ready when the time came and it did.
I didn't do any football stuff when I was a kid. ... Mostly baseball and basketball the whole time. That's all I did. I played football starting in seventh grade. As I got older, I started playing a little bit more. Then in high school, I really fell in love with it.
The team aspect of football and just playing quarterback, having the ball in your hands, having to make the plays, that was definitely something I loved.
[It didn't cross my mind to play both football and baseball]. Maybe when I was younger, when I thought you could do those things. When I was younger, I thought I'd be able to play all three sports and be a professional in all three of them. But as I got older, I realized I really loved this football thing, and I really wanted to focus on it and become the best quarterback I could possibly be.
I think I could still be able to throw 94 or 95 [miles per hour]. Honestly just because I'm bigger now, stronger and still have my flexibility playing quarterback and stuff.
I threw fastball, changeup and slider mostly. I used to stay with those three, but I could throw a curveball if I wanted to. I think, first off, [the Detroit Tigers] lose my rights after this year, so I'd be eligible for the MLB draft again this year if something like that happened. But I couldn't even see myself playing baseball again. I don't know what would have to happen to make me play baseball. Hopefully it never comes to that.
[My dad, MLB pitcher Pat Mahomes] was fine with [me choosing football over baseball]. He really just told me, whatever I do, just be the best at it. He and my mom both, they really leave it all up to me. I know I'll make the best decision for myself. They just told me to go all in whatever you do.
I wish I had thrown [the 78-yard pass] further [at my pro day]. I didn't throw a spiral, so it could have maybe went further, but it was still a good throw.
Against TCU my sophomore year, I was hurt so I was kind of like limping. I threw one, I think it was like 70 yards into the end zone on a Hail Mary on one of the last plays of the game. So I feel like if I have the power, I could definitely throw that out there and get it to the end zone almost from a touchback.
Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers were the two guys I really watched. A little bit of Ben Roethlisberger, as well. I really watched and watched the film over. I watched Brett when I was young, just watching his game. When I got older, I started watching Aaron. I really started studying his game and how he extends plays and the quick release he has.
There are a lot of [quarterbacks teams compare me to]. You hear Brett Favre. You hear Jay Cutler, Matthew Stafford. You hear Aaron, you hear some Big Ben. It's a lot of people. I feel like I play so unique that it's hard to put me at one guy.
I just met with [Roethlisberger] a little bit. He just said, "What's up?" and stuff like that. It was just cool meeting him and getting to see a guy like that. He's gonna be a Hall of Famer. You like to meet those guys. Hopefully at some point, I get to pick his brain a little bit more and talk to him about what made him so good.
I try not to [pay attention to mock drafts], but it's hard not to when you have Twitter. For the most part, I try to stay away from them. I see them on my Twitter feed and stuff like that, but I don't really look into it.
Being a competitor, you want to be that first guy [selected]. You want to be in the first round. That's the dream. That's what you see on draft night. You watch that stuff. But if I do go in the second round for some reason, I'll just make the best out of my opportunity. You look at Derek Carr, he probably thought he was going in the first round. He went into the second round and he was probably the best quarterback in that class. Now he's an MVP-caliber quarterback.
Never, ever, ever. [I can't replicate the Oklahoma game -- 52 completions on 88 attempts for 734 yards] because you only have one overtime. There would probably be no chance ever, unless something dramatically changed in the NFL.
[The decision to go to Texas Tech was based on] the respect I had for [Coach Kliff Kingsbury], the loyalty that he showed in me and just his track record with quarterbacks and how good he was at getting the best out of the guys he coached.
There are a lot of offenses that run similar offenses as Texas Tech. I feel like it's the way of college football is now and a lot of that spread is coming to the NFL, as well.
There are some teams that talk about [the degree of difficulty in the Big XII]. But when they see me play against LSU or play against Arkansas with guys in the NFL, and Oklahoma even, they see me still doing good against those teams. That's all they need to see really.
It definitely helps out a ton that [Kingsbury was a QB]. How smart he is, how hard he works, you respect that. You respect that he's been through the process. He knows exactly what it takes to be a great player and so you just respect what he says.
I think it hurts that [Kingsbury] has a better fashion sense [than me] now. I might get a little money, so I might be able to catch up with him.
I feel like I already have [proven myself]. Just showing my knowledge of the game and really just showing my passion for the game. That's the biggest thing teams want to see. They want to know that you're real and that you'll put in the work to be great.
