Aaron Rodgers Says Patrick Mahomes Reminds Him Of His 'Young Self'

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers sees similarities between his younger self and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes has enjoyed a breakout season as a rookie and for much of the season, has been the leading contender for the NFL MVP award.

The 23-year-old's exploits have seen the Chiefs edge towards the AFC West title with a 9-2 record and the latest figure to be impressed by him is Rodgers, who many consider the most talented quarterback in the league today.

"I don't want to disrespect him with this, but I see a lot of my young self in him," Rodgers said, as per Zach Kruse of Packers Wire. "He rolls around, runs around, makes plays. He has a big arm. He's talented. Plays with a great swagger. He's fun to watch."

That is high praise for Mahomes, but he is actually outperforming Rodgers when their rookie (starting) seasons are compared.

In 2008, Rodgers threw for 4,038 yards, grabbing 28 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 64.4 in the 16 games that he played. Mahomes, on the other hand, has played 11 games so far and has already thrown for 3,628 yards with 37 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 83.9.

And although he was on the losing side of this week's classic with the Los Angeles Rams where he notably had five turnovers affecting his MVP chances, Mahomes also became the only player since 1950 to have two six-touchdown games in his first 12 NFL games (he played one game last season).

There's no doubt Mahomes will continue to be a future MVP contender but the question is if he can emulate Rodgers when it comes to a season-by-season basis.

Rodgers would win the Super Bowl and become MVP two years after 2008 and has cemented his place as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, while many already consider him the most talented.

"The issue with the Green Bay Packers is Mike McCarthy," ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said of the Packers last month. "It's time that we look at Mike McCarthy and ask ourselves this question — you have the greatest quarterback [Rodgers], I'm talking about from a talent perspective, clearly of this generation, and it's wasting away the greatest years of Aaron Rodgers' career because of a) the inability of [team president] Mark Murphy and those guys to put the requisite pieces around him and b) for Mike McCarthy to coach them."

The way Mahomes is progressing, he could certainly emulate the 34-year-old. He will, however, hope to not have the personnel problems that Rodgers currently is suffering from this season.

Meanwhile, Mahomes is currently +200 to become named NFL MVP this year.

He was the previous favorite being as high as -150 last week but has been overtaken by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees who continues to impress this season and is a -210 favorite as of now.