From Patrick Mahomes to Caleb Williams, Aaron Rodgers rings as a common name at the college level as an idol to youngsters. However, Williams took the step to the next level- comparing his admiration of Rodgers to the bond shared by NBA legends Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.

In Williams’ own words from that Pivot Podcast: “I mimic my game after Aaron you know it’s it’s like the Kobe MJ thing…you watch and mimic and you know, okay I’m gonna try this little thing I saw, like throwing my body a certain way he did versus the Vikings.”

The followed path has undoubtedly put Williams steps ahead of his competitors. Williams was a certified beast at USC and Oklahoma with 10,082 passing yards, 93 touchdowns to just 14 picks. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and broke numerous college records, etching his name in the NCAA history. But more than the numbers, he studied the greats to build his game.

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Williams broke it down, “Watching Tom Brady, you can see the switch happen in his eyes before making certain throws. I’m sitting back, learning, taking in what I can from guys like Patrick Mahomes too, and adapting it to my style.”

So it’s no surprise NFL scouts are hyping him up as the next Aaron Rodgers. One said Williams makes “holy s–t throws” regularly, addressing his chance of quickly entering the league of QB greats. The Chicago Bears will be looking forward to taking Williams #1 overall and surrounding him with vets like Keenan Allen and be the ideal mentee.

The mentorship parallels between Caleb Williams and Rodgers through the lens of Bryant-Jordan

For Williams, having Rodgers as a mentor is like Kobe getting that guidance from his idol MJ back in the day. Kobe straight-up said before his final game in Chicago against the Bulls in 2016 to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes: “Jordan provided “a great amount of advice and an amazing level of detail” on everything from shooting to strategy.”

Here, the parallels are clear – Bryant said he “studied everything” about Jordan’s moves, just as Williams admits to “mimicking” Rodgers’ playing style, like, “throwing my body this way and throwing it back over my head this way and like he did versus the Vikings in between two three guys with a D in his face…I can take in and and and adapt to my game and and the in my best way possible and make it my own”

But there’s an edge to it too, the same competitive fire Jordan noted when he said the “Laker boy” Kobe didn’t “let the game come to him” and just tried to “make it a one-on-one game” early on.

Even so, the respect and gratitude outweigh any rivalry. As Bryant said on camera for ‘The Last Dance Doc’, “I don’t get five championships here without him because he guided me so much.” Now it’s Williams’ turn to walk in Rodgers’ footsteps as the potential new face of the Bears franchise.