In a recent interview with USA Today\u2019s Ed Easton Jr.<\/a>, former Chiefs QB Alex Smith spoke about Nussmeier\u2019s situation. He keyed in on the privilege of learning behind Patrick Mahomes, and how Andy Reid\u2019s system is one that\u2019s favorable for all types of quarterbacks. <\/p>\nAlex Smith\u2019s Chiefs History<\/p>\n
Smith was the Chiefs\u2019 starting quarterback from 2013 through 2017 after being acquired in trade with the San Francisco 49ers when Andy Reid first arrived in Kansas City. His tenure helped stabilize and transform the franchise culture into that of a consistent winner.<\/p>\n
50-26 record as Chiefs starter<\/p>\n
Two-time Pro Bowler<\/p>\n
Led the team to multiple postseason appearances<\/p>\n
Selflessly mentored rookie Patrick Mahomes in 2017<\/p>\n
Garrett Nussmeier won the lottery landing with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes <\/p>\n
Alex Smith is given a lot of credit for how he went about business during the 2017 NFL season. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid praise him for the mentorship he provided to a young Mahomes. <\/p>\n
A lot of veteran quarterbacks could\u2019ve felt threatened by their team trading up into the top-10 to select a quarterback. Smith, however, took it upon himself to act in rare selflessness. He acted as the perfect mentor to Mahomes, leading by example in his preparation and professionalism. His mentorship and guidance helped shape Mahomes into a superstar early in his career.<\/p>\n
The dynamics of the situations are surely different. Mahomes is at no risk of being replaced by Nussmeier outside of the possibility the rookie could be an injury-fill-in. What\u2019s the key similarity, though? Mahomes now has a chance to truly pay that Smith\u2019s mentorship forward to a once-promising quarterback prospect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think regardless of where you\u2019re drafted, he wants to reach his potential, and as a quarterback, you\u2019re such a product of the people around you, the 10 guys in the huddle, the system you run, the environment, and positions you get put in,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWhat more could you ask for to play for Andy Reid and learn from Patrick Mahomes? What a gift. I don\u2019t care who you are, I don\u2019t care how much you want to play right now, this is a gift, and take it. There\u2019s so much you can learn, not only in the classroom, but also from one of the best in Andy Reid. This guy\u2019s been around so many quarterbacks that I think the unique thing is that all have their own tool set, and Andy\u2019s found a way for them to utilize their tool set and be them.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nussmeier recognizes the opportunity that he has in front of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally excited for this opportunity to learn under (Patrick Mahomes),\u201d Nussmeier said at rookie minicamp. \u201cSteal some things\u2026 see the game through his eyes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Andy Reid\u2019s system is also favorable for Garrett Nussmeier\u2019s Chiefs development<\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty of steal-of-the-draft optimism surrounding Nussmeier. He\u2019s one season removed from completing 64.2% of his passes for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. On the flip side, there\u2019s pessimism surrounding the injury concerns, inconsistent play, mechanics, and processing.<\/p>\n
Nussmeier is already set up for success under Andy Reid. It\u2019s the way he caters his system to match the skillset of the quarterback. That combined with the masterclass he\u2019ll receive from Mahomes? It\u2019s a gift to a rookie quarterback. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis offense looked very different when Donovan (McNabb) was running it, or Michael Vick, very different when I was running it, to what it looks like now with Patrick (Mahomes),\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe has an amazing way of tailoring things to what you do well. If you\u2019re Garrett (Nussmeier) you get to see Patrick operate at the highest level. I think the thing that gets lost, Patrick, I think is the best quarterback in the NFL when it comes to playing at the line of scrimmage. Seeing things pre-snap, getting his team in and out of the best plays, protecting himself up front diagnosing what the defense is trying to do. And so for young quarterback, get to see that live in action, see a guy prepare every single day to do it at the highest level, like again, a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a powerful full circle moment for Smith, who went through the same type of scenario when Mahomes was a rookie. Now, it\u2019ll be up to Nussmeier to observe, learn, and adapt all thaat he can to his playstyle.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781018478_219_2025-09-02T100733Z_1399393061_MT1USATODAY26980198_RTRMADP_3_NFL-CHICAGO-BEARS-AT-KANSAS-CITY-CHIEFS-.jpeg\")
\t\t<\/p>\n
Kansas City Chiefs News<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLesser-known Kansas City Chiefs players who are trending in the right direction after OTAs heading into mandatory minicamp\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\nWe know about all the stars who had a good OTAs for the Kansas City Chiefs, but what about some of the players who are on the rise? Here\u2019s who you should be watching during mandatory minicamp. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can Kansas City Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes be to rookie QB Garrett Nussmeier what Alex Smith once…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":914333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[15594,4955,2888,7,1802,110,6,15,499],"class_list":["post-914332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-2017-nfl-draft","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-alex-smith","tag-football","tag-garrett-nussmeier","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-patrick-mahomes"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116720834291073012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2017-11-27T033430Z_389389241_MT1USATODAY10439593_RTRMADP_3_NFL-BUFFALO-BILLS-AT-KANSAS-CITY-CHIEFS-s.jpeg\")