Dylan Raiola might be the godson of Matthew Stafford, but he draws his inspiration from the Kansas City Chief’sPatrick Mahomes, so why are they so similar in their movement and throws and what else do they have in common?
Raiola, currently a freshman at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, represents the Cornhuskers in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference and is regarded a s five-star recruit making him one of the college football stars to watch.
Through his high school career, he threw for just shy of 8500 career yards with 88 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions, but whilst his numbers are impressive, he’s catching attention for a completely different reason.
“He wears the number 15, and he patterns a lot of his game after Patrick Mahomes,” Matt Rhule, Cornhuskers‘ head coach, told the Zach Gelb Show. “Whilst there is only one Pat Mahomes, Dylan has certainly work on making all of the off platform throws.”
Not only does the college football player move and throw like Mahomes, with a similar release angle too, he is insistent on looking the part of his doppelganger with a similar hairstyle, similar clothing style and similar facial hair.
The latter of which saw him go viral on June 30 when the Cornhuskers posted a photo of him looking eerily similar to the Chiefs‘ triple Super Bowl champion as fans reacted in their thousands on a post with 13.3m views.
So is Raiola‘s resemblance to the Chiefs‘ star quarterback simply a coincidence gained from watching him play since his debut in the NFL in 2018?
Maybe not, as the Cornhusker, who could be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, admitted he’s trained with Mahomes and he wants to get to coach Andy Reid‘s team to continue to learn from the 28-year-old.
“Probably need to go work with Pat and Bobby so I’m just trying to elevate my game,” Raiola told media at a press conference of where he hopes to end up.
Raiola also previously told DawgNation via YouTube that he’s worked with Mahomes too, giving him a close eye of how he plays.
“I’ve been fortunate to work out with Pat Mahomes and his trainer.”