KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With less than 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter of the preseason finale against Cleveland, Chiefs quarterback Chris Oladokun stepped onto the field for his first action of the day.
He had taken virtually no reps during practice that week. The team spent its limited game planning time preparing Shane Buechele to start the game, and he also shared scout-team snaps with Blaine Gabbert. This was just his third preseason game, and his first ever at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
“Fortunately for me, going back to my college days, I’ve been in that situation before where you don’t get a lot of reps in practice,” Oladokun said, “and then you’re thrown into the game and there’s no excuse for not playing well no matter if you’re getting reps in practice or not.”
Cornerback Dicaprio Bootle had just intercepted a Kellen Mond pass and set the offense up at the Browns 24-yard line. Two handoffs to Deneric Prince left the Chiefs with second-and-10 at the 11-yard line.
Oladokun took the snap and was greeted with inside pressure from his right side. He scrambled to his left looking for space and instead saw tight end Matt Bushman.
“At first I thought I was gonna be able to run it in and then Bushy did a great job working with me,” Oladokun said “And you know, Bushy is my guy, so I was happy I could give him the ball.”
Plays such as that played a pivotal role in convincing the Chiefs that Oladokun was ready to move up to the No. 3 quarterback role. When Gabbert won the backup job behind Mahomes, the Chiefs had a choice of keeping Buechele on the active roster or risk losing him via the waiver wire or free agency. The Chiefs waived Buechele and Oladokun, and both cleared waivers. But Buechele eschewed returning the Kansas City practice squad in favor of an offer from Buffalo.
The Chiefs moved quickly to sign to their practice squad Oladokun, who has provided head coach Andy Reid with confidence he is ready to step up, both on the depth chart and on the field.
“Chris is a good football player, he doesn’t have a lot of experience now, but he’s gaining it,” Reid said. “You saw his athletic ability and his arm and so on through the preseason, he did a nice job with that.”
Okladokun had another moment against the Browns that illustrated his readiness to take the next step. In the first preseason game against New Orleans, the Chiefs were attempting to run out the clock on third-and-8 with 1:04 left in the game. Oladokun threw a screen pass intended for La’Mical Perine that was intercepted by Saints defensive end Kyle Phillips. The Saints went on to win the game 26-24.
Given a chance at redemption against Cleveland, Oladokun seized the opportunity. He entered the game with the Chiefs trailing 29-23, and the touchdown throw to Bushman put the team on top 30-29. After a Cleveland field goal put Kanas City behind 32-30, Oladokun engineered a seven-play, 49-yard drive capped off by a 44-yard field goal from Harrison Butker to put the Chiefs ahead with 1:48 left to go in a 33-32 victory.
“Towards the end of the game obviously we had an end-of-the-game situation in New Orleans didn’t go our way,” Oladokun said. “So I really wanted to make up for that and make sure I could put us in a position to win so that’s the best part about it.”
Oladkun was a seventh-round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2022 NFL Draft. He didn’t get any preseason work, however, and a week after his release by the Steelers the Chiefs snapped him up for their practice squad.
Oladokun’s biggest role last season was serving as the scout team quarterback when the Chiefs played teams with mobile athletes in the pocket. That’s despite the fact that during stops at Samford, South Florida and South Dakota State, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Oladokun was largely a pocket passer. In 2021 he led the Jackrabbits to the NCAA FCS semifinals while completing 62% of his passes with 3,164 yards through the air and 25 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also rushed for 166 yards and two scores on 73 carries.
But during this year’s preseason, Oladokun demonstrated an elusiveness in the pocket more commonly associated with Mahomes.
“It’s funny people say that because me and my mom were actually just talking about it, my dad (too),” Oladokun said. “I’ve been doing that since little league, sort of those improvising plays. And obviously growing up last couple years watching Pat do that, we do talk about it and it’s cool to play with someone that I can learn from in that way.”
He playmaking also caught the attention of his Mahomes, who is impressed with Oladokun’s ability to learn during the past year while adding to his physical talents.
“I think he showcased that every time he’s played,” Mahomes said. “But being able to become an NFL quarterback is different. I had to go through that process. And so I think he’s done a great job of learning. And then he showcased that in the preseason of how he’s kind of evolved and taking that next step.”
Another reason why the Chiefs have hopes for Oladokun is how far he’s come with limited experience. He attempted 755 passes during his six seasons in college, most of them (382) during his final year. Mahomes had 591 pass attempts in his junior season alone.
As a result, Oladokun said he learned more football last year than he had before in his entire life thanks to Reid, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and quarterbacks coach David Girardi.
“(They) do a great job of making sure not only Pat’s ready but all the way down the line,” Oladokun said. “So I learned a lot of football last year. And it’s really prepared me for this preseason. I feel a lot more comfortable than even I did during Super Bowl week last year, just with the offense and the game plans and stuff like that.”
In the Chiefs quarterback room, the expectation is for players to speak their minds, make observations, and serve as a sounding board for Mahomes. That’s another area where Oladokun feels more confident than he did a season ago.
“So now I can step in with some rules where I can put some input on defenses, coverages, schemes, and then what we’re doing on offense to Pat and Blaine. It’s definitely good. Definitely good for the confidence to getting to play in the preseason, so I’m trying to build on that.”
Sunday afternoon as his teammates rested in the locker room ahead of practice in temperatures soaring into the upper 90s, Oladokun sat at his locker diagramming plays. It seems there’s never a moment when the 25-year-old doesn’t have his nose in the playbook or working through exercises to improve his knowledge of the offense while waiting for his opportunity behind Mahomes, Gabbert and Buechele.
“I’ve taken millions of mental reps, every single rep they get, I’m calling it out in my head, I’m going through the reads,” Oladokun said. “That’s definitely part of helping me but then I’m being able to talk to Pat, Shane, Blaine and just learn from mistakes they make in practice and things like that. So when I’m in the game, I feel comfortable and I’m just playing my game now.”
And his chance in the regular sooner could come sooner or later now that’s No. 3 on the depth chart.
“I’m excited,” he said. “We’ll see where it goes from here.”
