College Football

Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes Got Recruited by Mack Brown as a Safety

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:14 p.m. ET

Fansided, Rob Wolkenbrod/FanSided via Hook'em Headlines

Before Patrick Mahomes became a prolific passer for Texas Tech, Mack Brown had wanted to bring him to Austin as a safety.

Patrick Mahomes broke out into one of the best quarterbacks in the nation at Texas Tech during his two full seasons as the starter. Across three total years, he threw for 11,252 passing yards, an incredible feat for starting just two years and only having completed his junior season. Mahomes is set to enter the 2017 NFL Draft.

Before becoming one of the top quarterbacks, like every other player in college football, he had to be recruited. Texas sought him to come to Austin when Mack Brown had been the head coach. However, according to Don Williams of the Sportswriter at Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Brown tried bringing Mahomes in as a safety, which didn’t sit with him too well.

Well, it’s probably a good thing for Mahomes that he shrugged off the safety conversation, as his success at quarterback is very likely going to get him drafted. This is even with DeShone Kizer, Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, and Brad Kaaya, among others, potentially going in the first few rounds. If the quarterback big board on CBSSports.com is any indication, the 21-year-old could be a third or fourth round selection as the draft process gets underway.

If Mahomes had played as a safety, who knows how things would have turned out, especially for Texas Tech at quarterback. Would Baker Mayfield still be there as a walk-on? How good of a safety may have Mahomes been? Judging by his quote, not so much.

We’ll see what’s next for Patrick Mahomes as we near the 2017 NFL Draft. One thing’s for sure, though—he won’t be selected as a safety by teams this spring.