2017 NFL Draft: AFC West first round recap and analysis

Not long ago, I wrote that this year was the perfect year for the Kansas City Chiefs to use a first round pick on a quarterback. It turns out, they felt the same way.

In fact, not only did the Chiefs use a first round pick on a quarterback, they used multiple. Kansas City traded its first round pick in 2017 (27th overall) and 2018 along with a third round pick (91st overall) to get Patrick Mahomes II, the talented gunslinger out of Texas Tech.

Many analysts have compared Mahomes to the great Brett Favre for his playing style, which isn’t lazy but isn’t ‘normal’ by any stretch of the imagination.

For any Chiefs fan that might be reading this on a Broncos site, let it be known: Mahomes was the top quarterback on my big board. Bravo.

This is a player who plays the quarterback position with a similar style to Favre in that he’s willing to take risks, but also in that he will make some head scratching mistakes because he relies on his strong arm so much.

He slings the ball around like a shortstop in baseball, and he can really push the ball downfield. The reason this year was the perfect year for Kansas City to take a quarterback is the fact that next offseason, they have a huge decision to make with Alex Smith.

Smith is going to be due $20.6 million next offseason with just $3.6 million in dead cap if the Chiefs move on. They have one year to find out if Mahomes is going to be ready for action in 2018, and then they can go the cost-effective route at QB rather than handcuffing themselves with someone as average as Smith.

Don’t get me wrong — there’s a place in the NFL for Smith, but if he doesn’t push KC over the top this season, I think they move on at year’s end.