Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs finished 2025 with a 6-11 record and missed the playoffs for the first time in his career. Mahomes’ season ended early with a torn ACL and LCL in his knee to add the cherry on top of a bad season. Mahomes has done everything but play in games this preseason, and he looks to be ready for Week 1.
Reid and Mahomes identified what ailed them on offense, and the lack of a real threat in the running game was a huge part. Running back Isiah Pacheco played in 13 games and had just 462 yards on 118 carries (3.9 yards per carry). Kareem Hunt played in all 17 games, and he rushed 163 time for 611 yards (3.7 yards per carry). Both have moved on as the Chiefs landed Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III on a three-year deal in the offseason to lead their revamped rushing attack.
“No. 9. That’s all I can say,” Mahomes said, referencing Walker’s jersey number, when asked what intrigues him most about the offense. “That change and the ability to catch, run, pass protect, do everything. [He can] make a play out of nothing into a 20-yard gain. That’s going to be the biggest impact, I think, we’ll have — just finding the ways to get him the ball.”
Walker prefers to run from formations under center, which is a change from what Mahomes is accustomed to. Mahomes was in the shotgun on 80.6% of their formations outside of kneel-down plays, which was the third most in the NFL, according to ESPN Research. Throughout training camp, Mahomes has executed several different types of play-action passes – true seven-step dropbacks, naked rollouts and non-traditional fakes that involved a receiver in motion.
“Well, play-action has always been a big part of this offense,” Reid said. “We look at the production of it. What are you getting out of it [on film]? You might as well just dropback and forget about the play-action.”
One detail that Mahomes has worked to fix in camp is to show the ball longer to the defense – and closer to the running backs – to better execute his fakes so that it mirrors a handoff. Too often last season, Mahomes showed the ball in front of the back and pulled it back quicker than he should have, which tipped opposing linebackers to the Chiefs’ intentions of attempting a pass.
“Pat has done an unbelievable job of not only getting himself ready, but working with these receivers and making sure that everybody’s living up to that standard of how we’re going to play this year,” tight end Travis Kelce said.
