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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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 |
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