More than a dozen former 5-star recruits represented on Super Bowl LIX rosters

Super Bowl LIX will feature the NFL’s top two teams on Sunday, as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles square off for the second time in three seasons.

And while two of the game’s most prominent players — KC’s Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce — weren’t highly ranked as recruits, there’s no shortage of former blue-chip talent set to take the field. Among the 106 players represented on the two teams’ active rosters, 13 are former five-star recruits in the On3 Industry Ranking.

And two more — Nakobe Dean and Mecole Hardman — were on the team’s regular season rosters but are injured and won’t play on Sunday. Kansas City brings six former five-stars into the game: JuJu Smith Schuster (Class of 2014), Wanya Morris (2019), Trey Smith (2017), DJ Humphries (2012), Kingsley Suamataia (2021), and Chris Jones (2013).

Philadelphia will counter with seven of its own: Jalen Carter (2020), Landon Dickerson (2016), Eli Ricks (2020), Kelee Ringo (2020), Josh Sweat (2015), DeVonta Smith (2017), and Nolan Smith (2019). The Eagles players represent only three schools: Georgia, Alabama, and Florida State, with the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide having three apiece on the team’s roster.

The 13 total former five-stars make up 12.2 percent of the total number of players on the combined rosters, despite constituting roughly 1 percent of the prospects available in each recruiting cycle.

31 different states represented on Super Bowl LIX rosters

On a broader perspective, the 106 different players will be representing 31 different states that they played high school football in when they take the field on Sunday. Florida — one of the nation’s most talent-rich states historically, is one of two that will see 12 of its players on the sidelines on Sunday night. Of those 12 players, eight are on the Eagles’ roster.

Texas will also have a dozen of its own representatives, including the game’s two starting quarterbacks: Mahomes and Philly’s Jalen Hurts. California is the only other state with double-digit players, checking in with 11, seven of whom are donning Chiefs gear.

Georgia (8), Ohio and Virginia (6), North Carolina and Alabama (5), and Pennsylvania, Mississippi, New Jersey and Indiana (4) are among the other states with the most players appearing in Sunday’s game.

For a full breakdown of each state that will have a player in Super Bowl LIX, click here.