Super Bowl LVII kicks off Sunday with the Philadelphia Eagles squaring off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Glendale, Arizona. As it so happens, the biggest football game of the year also features a pair of former quarterbacks with ties to the Big 12 and SEC. Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs was once a gunslinger at Texas Tech, while Jalen Hurts of the Eagles ended his collegiate career at Oklahoma after beginning at Alabama. However, only one of the two (Hurts) was a blue-chip recruit.
In fact, out of 11 listed starters on Kansas City's offense, only three were rated as blue-chip recruits. Mahomes, meanwhile, was a three-star prospect, though he was borderline as a top-400 recruit. Philadelphia has six former blue-chip recruits on offense, but balances it out with five starters who were either two-stars or completely unranked -- notably Jason Kelce, who walked on at Cincinnati before becoming an All-Pro center in the pros.
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The highest hit rates on recruiting rankings came on defense. Three of the eight starting defensive lineman for the game were former five-stars, while every member of Kansas City's defense was given three stars or higher as prospects. To the contrary, the offensive line is filled with late bloomers. Kelce is one of three Eagles offensive linemen who were unranked coming out of high school. Joe Thuney and Andrew Wylie each ranked as two-stars before landing in Kansas City.
Of course, this list only features starters and not key backups. But while four- and five-star recruits start from ahead, the five unranked prospects starting in the Super Bowl signal an important reminder: No matter where you start, there's always a path to the highest stage.
Here's a look at the Chiefs' offense based on the team's depth chart (all are high school rankings courtesy of 247Sports Composite):
| Player | Stars | Overall rank | Position rank |
|---|---|---|---|
QB Patrick Mahomes | 3 | No. 398 | No. 22 PRO QB |
HB Isiah Pacheco | 3 | No. 665 | No. 30 RB |
FB Michael Burton | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster | 5 | No. 21 | No. 3 ATH |
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling | 3 | No. 1,545 | No. 218 WR |
TE Travis Kelce | 2 | No. 1,583 | No. 85 TE |
LT Orlando Brown | 3 | No. 453 | No. 36 OT |
LG Joe Thuney | 2 | No. 1,498 | No. 129 OT |
C Creed Humphrey | 4 | No. 294 | No. 3 OC |
RG Trey Smith | 5 | No. 14 | No. 4 OT |
RT Andrew Wylie | 2 | No. 2,011 | No. 193 OT |
Now let's take a look at the Chiefs defense:
| Player | Stars | Overall rank | Position rank |
|---|---|---|---|
DE George Karlaftis | 4 | No. 59 | No. 4 SDE |
DT Khalen Saunders | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
DT Chris Jones | 5 | No. 18 | No. 2 SDE |
DE Frank Clark | 3 | No. 692 | No. 42 ATH |
SLB Carlos Dunlap | 5 | No. 14 | No. 2 SDE |
MLB Nick Bolton | 4 | No. 1,114 | No. 39 ILB |
WLB Willie Gay Jr. | 4 | No. 70 | No. 3 OLB |
CB L'Jarius Sneed | 3 | No. 1,968 | No. 141 S |
CB Trent McDuffie | 4 | No. 126 | No. 12 CB |
SS Justin Reid | 3 | No. 366 | No. 21 S |
FS Juan Thornhill | 3 | No. 676 | No. 53 ATH |
Let's switch over the the Eagles and check out their offense based on the team's official depth chart:
| Player | Stars | Overall rank | Position rank |
|---|---|---|---|
QB Jalen Hurts | 4 | No. 192 | No. 4 DUAL QB |
RB Miles Sanders | 5 | No. 21 | No. 1 RB |
WR A.J. Brown | 4 | No. 36 | No. 4 WR |
WR DeVonta Smith | 4 | No. 62 | No. 9 WR |
WR Quez Watkins | 2 | No. 2,253 | No. 315 WR |
| TE Dallas Goedert | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
LT Jordan Mailata | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
LG Landon Dickerson | 4 | No. 31 | No. 4 OT |
C Jason Kelce | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
RG Isaac Seumalo | 5 | No. 28 | No. 1 OG |
RT Lane Johnson | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
And here's the Eagles defense:
| Player | Stars | Overall rank | Position rank |
|---|---|---|---|
DE Brandon Graham | 5 | No. 16 | No. 3 ILB |
DT Fletcher Cox | 4 | No. 157 | No. 11 DT |
DT Javon Hargrave | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
DE Josh Sweat | 5 | No. 8 | No. 1 WDE |
SLB Haason Reddick | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
MLB T.J. Edwards | 2 | No. 2,195 | No. 180 ATH |
WLB Kyzir White | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
CB James Bradberry | 2 | No. 2,350 | No. 156 ATH |
CB Darius Slay | 3 | No. 1,446 | No. 161 WR |
S Marcus Epps | N/A | Unranked | Unranked |
S C.J. Gardner-Johnson | 4 | No. 42 | No. 4 CB |
| NCB Avonte Maddox | 3 | No. 1,073 | No. 88 ATH |
