ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Chiefs president Mark Donovan goes back a long time with head coach Andy Reid, so it piques interest when he describes his friend as more excited for the 2018 season that he has seen him in a while.
"You'd have to ask him that question," Donovan said. "I give you my perspective which is he's more excited than I've seen him in a long time."
It's easy to chalk up that excitement to the promotion of Patrick Mahomes to the starting quarterback role. But Donovan believes it's more than that, and has much to do with the other dizzying array of options on offense put together by general manager Brett Veach.
"You put Sammy Watkins out there, Tyreek (Hill), (Travis) Kelce, Kareem (Hunt)," Donovan said. "If you're an offensive coordinator with a mind that he has and the creativity that he likes to bring to this game, that gets you excited. And that goes back to Brett and what he's done the way they work together."
Donovan spent six seasons working with Reid in the Philadelphia front office from 2003 to 2008. He arrived in Kansas City as the club's chief operating officer in 2009, earning promotion to president in 2011. Two years later Reid joined him with the Chiefs.
"The conversations we have about what we could do, I think he's looking at a lot of options he may not have looked at in the past," Donovan said. "Say we could probably do that because of the athletes we have on the field and the way they sort of matchup together. We might take a shot here, might take a shot here, we'll try to develop this play versus maybe not having all those tools."
Donovan suggests the addition of Watkins may be key to making the 2018 season more exciting for Reid.
"And again it's not just Pat," Donovan said. "You put Sammy Watkins on the field with everybody else, it creates some stress for the defense."
