Star ratings of Super Bowl starters

[Ibis Wingz]

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2015/1/21/7861989/super-bowl-2015-patriots-seahawks-high-school-recruiting-ratings

The Patriots and Seahawks don't have many former high school superstars, but most of their biggest contributors were considered solid prospects.


The recruiting profile of both teams is similar. Seattle's starting lineup had an average star rating of 2.4 as high school prospects, and New England's had 2.3. (Full ratings below, via the 247Sports Composite.)

Neither team boasts a former five-star recruit in its two-deep, and both have four former four-stars. Seattle has 11 former three-stars, while New England has nine. This isn't that surprising, as five-stars make up less than 1 percent of all FBS/FCS recruits, four-stars less than 10 percent, and three-stars roughly 37 percent. About 55 percent are rated two-stars or unrated.

Tom Brady was an unrated recruit at a time when few recruits were rated on a national level, but he was thought of well enough to earn a scholarship offer from Michigan, which was contending for Big Ten titles on an annual basis. If the star system was around in 1995 when Brady graduated from high school, he would have likely been rated as a four- or five-star recruit.



Patriots star Rob Gronkowski was highly rated. Out of Pittsburgh, Gronkowski was the No. 4 tight end nationally according to Rivals.com, two spots behind former New England teammate Aaron Hernandez. Gronkowski chose Arizona over Ohio State, Penn State, Clemson, Maryland, and other major offers.

When Marshawn Lynch signed with Cal in 2004 out of Oakland Tech, Bears fans were quite happy, as he was rated the No. 2 running back in the nation, behind only Adrian Peterson. Lynch chose Cal over Oregon, UCLA, USC, Arizona State, and Washington State, among others.

Russell Wilson was only a three-star recruit. Wilson was productive in football and baseball out of Richmond, Virginia, but he was 5'11, 180, a stature that hurt his rating. Size should impact a quarterback's rating, particularly because ratings have a major projection element, but Wilson overcame it to be a college and NFL star.
Seahawks
Name Position College Rating
Russell Wilson QB Wisconsin 3 star
Russell Okung LT Oklahoma State 3 star
James Carpenter LG Alabama 4 star
Max Unger C Oregon 3 star
J.R. Sweezy RG NC State 2 star
Justin Britt RT Missouri 3 star
Luke Willson TE Rice 2 star
Doug Baldwin WR Stanford 2 star
Jermaine Kearse WR Washington 3 star
Ricardo Lockette WR Fort Valley State NR
Marshawn Lynch RB California 4 star
Michael Bennett DE Texas A&M NR
Tony McDaniel DT Tennessee 3 star
Kevin Williams DT Oklahoma State N/A
Cliff Avril DE Purdue 3 star
Bruce Irvin LB West Virginia 4 star
Bobby Wagner LB Utah State 2 star
K.J. Wright LB Mississippi State 3 star
Richard Sherman CB Stanford 3 star
Earl Thomas FS Texas 3 star
Kam Chancellor SS Virginia Tech 3 star
Byron Maxwell CB Clemson 4 star
Steven Hauschka K NC State NR
Jon Ryan P Regina (Canada) N/A
Patriots
Name Position College Rating
Tom Brady QB Michigan N/A
Nate Solder LT Colorado 3 star
Dan Connolly LG Southeast Missouri State NR
Ryan Wendell C Fresno State 2 star
Josh Kline RG Kent State 2 star
Sebastian Vollmer RT Houston N/A
Rob Gronkowski TE Arizona 4 star
Julian Edelman WR Kent State 3 star
Brandon LaFell WR LSU 3 star
Danny Amendola WR Texas Tech 3 star
LeGarrette Blount RB Oregon 4 star
Rob Ninkovich DE Purdue 3 star
Vince Wilfork DT Miami 4 star
Chris Jones DT Bowling Green 2 star
Chandler Jones DE Syracuse 2 star
Jamie Collins LB Southern Mississippi 3 star
Dont'a Hightower LB Alabama 4 star
Jonathan Casillas LB Wisconsin 2 star
Darrelle Revis CB Pittsburgh 3 star
Devin McCourty FS Rutgers 3 star
Patrick Chung SS Oregon 2 star
Brandon Browner CB Oregon State 3 star
Stephen Gostkowski K Memphis N/A
Ryan Allen P Louisiana Tech NR

 

[emrok]

The author cited 247 and rivals as sources for ratings. This makes me think he took the lowest of each site to make this list. But I still would take a college team of all 5 star players.

 

[gfer1988]

i'm not a big believer in the star system. main reason being a lot of these kids are done developing physically yet. many of the lower rated guys haven't hit their potential while the opposite could be said for some of the higher rated guys. i think it's more about player development which the exception of a handful of freak athletes that put in the work.

 

[AllAboutTheUNotAboutU]

The author cited 247 and rivals as sources for ratings. This makes me think he took the lowest of each site to make this list. But I still would take a college team of all 5 star players.

Alabama?

 

[emrok]

The author cited 247 and rivals as sources for ratings. This makes me think he took the lowest of each site to make this list. But I still would take a college team of all 5 star players.

Alabama?

Sure, if it means not being 6-7 and having 3 recent championships.

 

[tampatony21]

The author cited 247 and rivals as sources for ratings. This makes me think he took the lowest of each site to make this list. But I still would take a college team of all 5 star players.

I think you're right.. Earl Thomas as an example was a 4 star on rivals.

 

[INCaneFan]

i'm not a big believer in the star system. main reason being a lot of these kids are done developing physically yet. many of the lower rated guys haven't hit their potential while the opposite could be said for some of the higher rated guys. i think it's more about player development which the exception of a handful of freak athletes that put in the work.

It doesn't automatically determine success, but the years have shown that a 5 star has a higher percentage of being drafted than a 4 star does. The same is true of 4 stars versus 3 stars.

The odds don't always play out in your favor with winning it all, but I'd take the highest possible star rating every single signing day. Of course that all depends on what your needs are, but I'm sure you get the point.

 

[WestEndZone]

Starz, bro.