Brother of Patrick Mahomes at Chiefs rookie minicamp trying to make team as a tight end

When you’re trying to make an NFL team as a tight end or a wide receiver, it helps to have some chemistry with the starting quarterback, which is why Graham Walker might have a leg up on the competition during Kansas City’s rookie minicamp this week. 

The former Rice tight end is the half-brother of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The two players have the same father in Patrick Mahomes Sr. However, they didn’t grow up together as Walker was raised by his mother (Jessamyn Walker) and his stepfather (Gerry Howatt), who are both listed as his parents on the biography page of his Rice football profile. 

“He definitely is a Mahomes,” Mahomes Sr. said of Walker back in January 2024. “He’s finally come to the realization that he has a chance to play in the NFL, so he’s going to try and explore all the possibilities and whatever that road that leads to, just try to give himself a chance to play at the next level.”

Walker started his college career at Brown University and spent three seasons at the Ivy League school before transferring to Rice in 2024. He totaled 127 catches for 1,496 yards and 15 touchdowns during his time at Brown, including a 2021 season where he caught 53 passes for 658 yards and six touchdowns. 

Walker was hoping to be a receiver at Rice, but he ended up making a position switch to tight end. During his lone season with the Owls, he caught 24 passes for 252 yards. 

Although he’s related to the Chiefs star quarterback, Walker will still be a longshot to make the roster. The Chiefs invited a total of 87 players to the team’s rookie minicamp, including 60 players who are attending the three-day event on a tryout basis (Walker is one of those 60). The camp started on May 3 and will end on May 5. 

If the Chiefs like him, they could invite him to training camp as a member of their 90-man roster, and if that happens, he’d still have to survive the cutdown to 53 if he’s going to make the team.