State and spent two years in the ACC before transferring to the AAC and playing two seasons with South Florida. Valdes-Scantling had 17 scholarship offers out of Lakewood High School from Houston, Arkansas, Kentucky, FAU and Tulane, among others. College: North Carolina State, South Florida.Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2013.Smith-Schuster was drafted by the Steelers and spent five up-and-down years in Pittsburgh before betting on himself and signing a one-year deal with Kansas City during the offseason. After recording 3,092 yards and 25 touchdowns on 213 catches in three years, the 6-foot-1 pass-catcher declared early for the NFL Draft. He was a top-five player in his class and flipped to USC after originally committing to Oregon. Growing up in Long Beach, Smith-Schuster was a baller in high school. Recruiting ranking: Five-star, Class of 2014.Kelce didn’t make any noise until his senior year, when he earned First-Team All-Conference honors, and has played his entire career with the Chiefs.

He chose the Bearcats over Akron, UConn, Cleveland State, Eastern Michigan, Miami, Pittsburgh and Kansas and spent six years with the program.

One of the better “underdog” stories in this year’s Super Bowl, Kelce had just four Power Five offers. Recruiting ranking: Two-star, Class of 2008.He is a career journeyman, having played for Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, and now Kansas City. He was the Chiefs’ third-leading receiver in 2022.īurton was recruited as a linebacker out of high school, but moved to fullback with the Scarlet Knights. McKinnon spent three years in Minnesota, three years with San Francisco, and signed with Kansas City in 2021. He finished third all-time on the school’s rushing list with a staggering 4,138 all-purpose yards and 42 touchdowns. Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2010Īfter committing to Georgia Southern as a quarterback, McKinnon stepped into a triple-option offense as a Swiss-Army Knife.He had an impressive four-year career on a bad team and amassed 2,442 yard on the ground in four years. The shifty, 5-foot-10 speedster grew up in New Jersey and chose to stay home with the Scarlet Knights instead of playing for UConn, Maryland, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Temple or Toledo. Pacheco quickly became the top back in Kansas City after being drafted with the team’s final pick last April. Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2018.After throwing for 11,252 yards and 93 touchdowns in 32 college games, Mahomes forwent his final year of eligibility, was not drafted first overall by the Chicago Bears and slipped to the Kansas City Chiefs at No. He committed to play for TTU over offers from Oklahoma State, Rice and Arkansas and started midway through his freshman season. Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2014įrom Whitehouse, Texas, Mahomes was severely under-recruited out of high school.Here is how the Kansas City Chiefs roster was built: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS OFFENSE It goes to show that while star rankings are important, and while there is a larger saturation of lower-ranked recruits, it ultimately doesn’t matter what a recruit is ranked in high school- it matters how he performs on the collegiate level.ĭefensive back Jaylen Watson, who has the most unique story on the team, is the perfect example. Of the 22 key players on the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster, three were five-star recruits, five were four-star recruits, 12 were three-star recruits and five were two-star recruits or unranked. Building An AFC Champion: How Each Kansas City Chiefs Player Got To Super Bowl LVII Some of them were highly-recruited out of high school, others had to take a different path to the league. In addition, each player comes from their own unique background. While both sides are stacked with talent, both organizations have their own individual ways to build a roster. Super Bowl LVII kicks off on Sunday as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles vie for their second world championships of the 2000s.

Chiefs roster by college