Looking Back At Texas Tech First Round Draft Picks
Pat Mahomes – Quarterback
For the entirety of the “Air Raid” era, Texas Tech football has produced prolific quarterbacks almost every year. But none of those QB’s were considered legitimate NFL prospects until last year. In 2017, Texas Tech finally saw one of its quarterbacks taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Pat Mahomes was taken with the No. 10 overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs marking a significant milestone for the program. Never before had Texas Tech produced a potential franchise QB in the NFL, something Kliff Kingsbury can now promote on the recruiting trail.
Kansas City thought so highly of Mahomes that they traded up 17 spots to take him. That was a tremendous statement from a franchise coached by highly-respected offensive guru Andy Reid.
Mahomes was the backup to veteran Alex Smith as a rookie but with Smith’s trade to the Washington Redskins this offseason, Texas Tech is finally set to see one of its “Air Raid” quarterbacks lead an NLF offense.
Though other QB’s achieved more in terms of wins and losses, Mahomes is arguably the best quarterback ever at Texas Tech. Though he was at Tech just three seasons, Mahomes is near the top of virtually all of the Texas Tech passing statistics.
Mahomes ranks third in career passing yards (11,252) and passing touchdowns (93). Additionally, he owns the fourth and seventh-most prolific single-season passing totals (2016, 2015) and four of the ten greatest single-game passing efforts in program history.
His greatest collegiate performance came in a 66-59 loss to No. 16 Oklahoma in 2016. In that game, Mahomes set the FBS record for total yards (819) and passing yards (734) in a single game single-handedly keeping the underdog Red Raiders in the game.
The Whitehouse, Texas native was a three-sport star in high school and was drafted in the MLB draft as a high school senior. However, by the end of his true freshman season (in which he started the final four games) it was clear that football was what Mahomes was meant to play.
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Now, Mahomes will have an opportunity to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, something no Red Raider has accomplished since Billy Joe Tolliver in the 1990’s.