Super Bowl LIX is a testament to player identification and talent development. Neither the Philadelphia Eagles nor the Kansas City Chiefs are lacking in headline players, even if one were to go all the way back to the high school recruiting days.
But there are plenty of listed starters that didn’t even hold a ranking when they were being sought after by college programs across the nation. Seven expected starters on the Eagles and the Chiefs were unranked when they signed out of high school; Philadelphia has three on offense, while Kansas City has three on defense. A good few of those unranked prospects cut their teeth in junior college before moving on to play major college football.
Not all paths are created equal. For every formerly unranked prospect competing in the Super Bowl, there’s a standout athlete with a five-star pedigree to his name. Especially on defense, where almost half of the expected defensive line starters for both teams held a five-star ranking — that means almost every top program in the nation would have been calling for their services.
The rosters are mostly filled out with ex-three and four-star prospects, which makes sense given that those players tend to constitute a bulk of the recruiting rankings during each cycle. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is gunning for his third straight Super Bowl win, was a three-star when he signed with Texas Tech in 2014.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash between the Eagles and the Chiefs, here’s how each expected starter (according to the teams’ respective official depth charts) ranked as a high school prospect. Rankings are provided courtesy of the 247Sports Composite.
Philadelphia Eagles offense
PLAYER STARS OVERALL RANK POSITION RANK
QB Jalen Hurts
4
No. 175
No. 3 DUAL QB
RB Saquon Barkley
4
No. 119
No. 13 RB
WR A.J. Brown
4
No. 36
No. 4 WR
WR DeVonta Smith
4
No. 62
No. 9 WR
WR Jahan Dotson
3
No. 192
No. 36 WR
TE Dallas Goedert
Unranked
N/A
N/A
LT Jordan Mailata
Unranked
N/A
N/A
LG Landon Dickerson
4
No. 31
No. 4 OT
C Cam Jurgens
4
No. 193
No. 7 TE
RG Mekhi Becton
3
No. 399
No. 42 OT
RT Lane Johnson
Unranked
N/A
N/A
Philadelphia Eagles defense
PLAYER STARS OVERALL RANK POSITION RANK
EDGE Nolan Smith Jr.
5
No. 1
No. 1 WDE
DT Jordan Davis
3
No. 424
No. 29 DT
DT Jalen Carter
5
No. 18
No. 4 DT
DT Milton Williams
2
No. 2,640
No. 127 SDE
EDGE Josh Sweat
5
No. 8
No. 1 WDE
LB Nakobe Dean
5
No. 19
No. 2 ILB
LB Zack Baun
3
No. 1,055
No. 83 ATH
CB Darius Slay Jr.
3
No. 1,439
No. 160 WR
CB Quinyon Mitchell
3
No. 1,830
No. 159 CB
NCB Cooper DeJean
4
No. 359
No. 26 S
S C.J. Gardner-Johnson
4
No. 42
No. 4 CB
S Reed Blankenship 3 No. 1,713 No. 132 S
Kansas City Chiefs offense
PLAYER STARS OVERALL RANK POSITION RANK
QB Patrick Mahomes
3
No. 389
No. 22 PRO QB
RB Isiah Pacheco
3
No. 665
No. 30 RB
FB Carson Steele
Unranked
N/A
N/A
WR DeAndre Hopkins
4
No. 210
No. 30 WR
WR Xavier Worthy
4
No. 62
No. 8 WR
TE Travis Kelce
2
No. 1,602
No. 85 TE
LT Joe Thuney
2
No. 1,537
No. 131 OT
LG Mike Caliendo
3
No. 1,782
No. 101 OG
C Creed Humphrey
4
No. 290
No. 3 OC
RG Trey Smith
5
No. 14
No. 4 OT
RT Jawaan Taylor
3
No. 927
No. 46 OG
Kansas City Chiefs defense
PLAYER STARS OVERALL RANK POSITION RANK
DE George Karlaftis
4
No. 59
No. 4 SDE
DT Chris Jones
5
No. 18
No. 2 SDE
DT Tershawn Wharton
Unranked
N/A
N/A
DE Mike Danna
3
No. 2,034
No. 94 WDE
LB Nick Bolton
3
No. 1,114
No. 39 ILB
LB Drue Tranquill
4
No. 281
No. 21 S
LB Leo Chenal
3
No. 635
No. 35 ATH
CB Trent McDuffie
4
No. 126
No. 12 CB
CB Jaylen Watson
Unranked
N/A
N/A
S Justin Reid
3
No. 365
No. 21 S
S Bryan Cook
Unranked
N/A
N/A