{"id":183433,"date":"2024-07-31T16:30:50","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T20:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=183433"},"modified":"2024-07-31T16:05:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T20:05:44","slug":"chiefs-mahomes-cornhuskers-raiola-draft-dolphins-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/07\/31\/chiefs-mahomes-cornhuskers-raiola-draft-dolphins-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs&#8217; Patrick Mahomes Reacts to Photo of College Doppelganger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes is one-of-one. Teams are still seeking out the \u201cnext\u201d version to take their team to the promised land as he has for the Chiefs. That may not be the case for Nebraska and incoming quarterback Dylan Raiola. Raiola is the No. 8 recruit for the 2024 class, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-sports\/football\/recruiting\/playerrankings\/_\/view\/rn300\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">per ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Raiola drew plenty of reactions when a picture of him reporting for training camp made the rounds on social media. Raiola, as was pointed out, bears a striking resemblance to the Chiefs\u2019 superstar QB.<\/p>\n<h2>Chiefs&#8217; Patrick Mahomes Reacts to College Doppelganger<\/h2>\n<h3>Chiefs Patrick Mahomes: Dylan Raiola \u2018My Lil Cuzzo\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cboy <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cheetah\/status\/1818703526672875651\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ain\u2019t no way<\/a>,\u201d former Chiefs receiver and Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill said in a quoted post of the picture, tagging Mahomes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s my <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PatrickMahomes\/status\/1818724575179686301\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lil cuzzo<\/a>,\u201d Mahomes said in response.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JpWeVh48Sp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JpWeVh48Sp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HuskerFootball\/status\/1818417937587257818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMan trying to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cheetah\/status\/1818703648269947169\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">steal his flow<\/a>,\u201d Hill said in a subsequent post.<\/p>\n<p>Raiola is the son of longtime Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola. The younger Raiola was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-sports\/recruiting\/football\/story\/_\/id\/39141863\/dylan-raiola-no-8-recruit-2024-flips-georgia-nebraska\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN\u2019s top-ranked pocket passer<\/a>, per ESPN\u2019s Pete Thamel in December 2023.<\/p>\n<p>DraftKings Sportsbook ranked him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/stories\/college-football\/2024-heisman-odds-favorites-college-football\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second in the preseason Heisman rankings<\/a> as of July 12, ranking behind only Georgia\u2019s Carson Beck. Raiola <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RaiolaDylan\/status\/1736881334641918211\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flipped his commitment<\/a> from the Bulldogs to the Cornhuskers in December.<\/p>\n<p>Raiola is already on a different path than Mahomes took.<\/p>\n<h3>Dylan Raiola on Different Path Than Chiefs\u2019 Patrick Mahomes<\/h3>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/mahomes-purdy-were-viewed-high-201808559.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Coming out of Whitehouse High School<\/a> in the class of 2014, Mahomes was rated by Rivals as a three-star recruit and the No. 49-ranked recruit in the state of Texas. Rivals ranked 11 quarterbacks in the class higher than him,\u201d Yahoo Sports\u2019 Daniel Fair wrote in February. \u201c247Sports also ranked him a three-star recruit, the No. 82 player in the state of Texas and No. 29 pro-style quarterback in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cESPN ranked Mahomes as a three-star prospect, the No. 99 player in Texas and the No. 22 quarterback in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mahomes won the Sammy Baugh Award as the nation\u2019s Most Oustanding Passer in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>He was still <a href=\"https:\/\/kkam.com\/why-patrick-mahomes-is-not-a-heisman-finalist\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">not among the Heisman trophy finalists<\/a> that season. That further underscores how different of a path Raiola is already on. Living up to his own hype is the latter\u2019s greatest challenge given the expectations placed upon him. Mahomes is now a three-time champion, two-time MVP, six-time Pro Bowler, and two-time All-Pro, so he makes for an admirable target.<\/p>\n<h3>Patrick Mahomes Was Not Patrick Mahomes to Start<\/h3>\n<p>This is also a reminder that Mahomes was not the version of himself that is today. He has a legitimate claim as the best player in the NFL. He could make himself a legitimate threat for the G.O.A.T. title if he continues his title-winning ways.<\/p>\n<p>That took time. Hill said in an interview with \u201cInside The NFL\u201d in 2020 that he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=132580278434831\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">thought Mahomes was \u201ctrash\u201d<\/a> during their first practice. Mahomes quickly eliminated all doubters, but the lesson remains the same.<\/p>\n<p>Wherever Raiola\u2019s journey takes him, the version that steps onto the field in 2024 will not be the one that enters the NFL if and when he does. It is also important to factor in the situation he will find himself in. It is no secret the impact that landing under Andy Reid has had on Mahomes.<\/p>\n<p>With all of that in mind, Raiola\u2019s story will be his own, not Mahomes\u2019. At least he has the look down, though.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kansas City Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes reacted to a photo of his college doppelganger that made the rounds on social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2879,"featured_media":183435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[7811,32709,32710,1576],"class_list":["post-183433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chiefs","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-dylan-raiola","tag-nebraska-cornhuskers","tag-patrick-mahomes"],"modified_by":"Josh Buckhalter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}