Back in 2021, the NFL made a change that allowed linebackers and defensive backs to wear the same numbers, but Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is clearly not a fan of the move because it’s made things a little more difficult on quarterbacks.
During a conversation with Peyton and Eli Manning on Monday night, Patrick Mahomes complained about the NFL’s rule change a little bit, expressing that it has made it more difficult for quarterbacks to identify players on the opposing team.
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“It’s even crazier now because everybody can wear the single digits,” Mahomes said according to Pro Football Talk. “We actually go in every week and we really emphasize the numbers because when you’ve got a number like No. 7 playing middle linebacker, that can really mess with your tells for the o-linemen. It looks cool, I’ll give everybody that, but it makes it a little difficult for the QB.”
Mahomes said early in his career, it was much easier to determine a team’s personnel grouping by looking at the jersey numbers of the opposing players. But now that linebackers and defensive backs can wear the same numbers, it’s not as easy.
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“You get these guys who rotate in, and you’ll get a DB who’s in the 40s and a linebacker in single digits,” Mahomes said. “Having to really recognize that quickly.”
NFL fans, however, weren’t really buying this complaint from Mahomes. The quarterback quickly got blasted on social media as people pointed out that the vast majority of NFL rules favor the offense and that the Chiefs were the ones who proposed this rule change in the first place.
Patrick Mahomes says the NFL's expanded jersey number rules make reading defenses harder for QBs because you can't always tell who's a linebacker and who's a defensive back. https://t.co/c3rIGsJklS
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 14, 2023
Patrick Mahomes says the NFL's expanded jersey number rules make reading defenses harder for QBs because you can't always tell who's a linebacker and who's a defensive back. https://t.co/c3rIGsJklS
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 14, 2023
