Building An AFC Champion: How Each Kansas City Chiefs Player Got To Super Bowl LVII, From High School To The NFL

Super Bowl LVII kicks off on Sunday as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles vie for their second world championships of the 2000s. While both sides are stacked with talent, both organizations have their own individual ways to build a roster.

In addition, each player comes from their own unique background. Some of them were highly-recruited out of high school, others had to take a different path to the league.

Building An AFC Champion: How Each Kansas City Chiefs Player Got To Super Bowl LVII(Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

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. 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.

Defensive back Jaylen Watson, who has the most unique story on the team, is the perfect example.

Here is how the Kansas City Chiefs roster was built:

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS OFFENSE

From Whitehouse, Texas, Mahomes was severely under-recruited out of high school. He committed to play for TTU over offers from Oklahoma State, Rice and Arkansas and started midway through his freshman season. 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. 10.

Pacheco quickly became the top back in Kansas City after being drafted with the team's final pick last April. 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. He had an impressive four-year career on a bad team and amassed 2,442 yard on the ground in four years.

After committing to Georgia Southern as a quarterback, McKinnon stepped into a triple-option offense as a Swiss-Army Knife. He finished third all-time on the school's rushing list with a staggering 4,138 all-purpose yards and 42 touchdowns. McKinnon spent three years in Minnesota, three years with San Francisco, and signed with Kansas City in 2021. He was the Chiefs' third-leading receiver in 2022.

Burton was recruited as a linebacker out of high school, but moved to fullback with the Scarlet Knights. He is a career journeyman, having played for Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, and now Kansas City.

One of the better "underdog" stories in this year's Super Bowl, Kelce had just four Power Five offers. He chose the Bearcats over Akron, UConn, Cleveland State, Eastern Michigan, Miami, Pittsburgh and Kansas and spent six years with the program. 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.

Growing up in Long Beach, Smith-Schuster was a baller in high school. He was a top-five player in his class and flipped to USC after originally committing to Oregon. 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. 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.

Valdes-Scantling had 17 scholarship offers out of Lakewood High School from Houston, Arkansas, Kentucky, FAU and Tulane, among others. He ultimately chose N.C. State and spent two years in the ACC before transferring to the AAC and playing two seasons with South Florida. After showing his potential as a deep-ball threat, the Packers brought him into the organization from 2018 to 2021. Valdes-Scantling had a career-high 42 catches with the Chiefs this year.

Western Michigan was one of just four scholarship offers that Moore received out of high school as a quarterback and defensive back. Howard, Rice and Robert Morris were the others. Upon arrival in Kalamazoo, he was quickly converted to a wide receiver and had two First-Team All-MAC seasons with the Broncos. The Chiefs liked what they saw from the speedy slot receiver and it's not hard to see why!

Hardman had his pick of the litter when it came to where to play his college ball as the No. 1 athlete in the country. He ended up in the SEC and played just three years for the Bulldogs before going pro.

Despite his "star ranking," every program in the country would have been thrilled to receive a commitment from Brown out of high school. The Georgia-native had 33 offers from Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Cal, Miami, and others, but chose to go to Oklahoma. He started every game in three seasons with the Sooners and has become one of the most reliant offensive linemen in the NFL. Brown was traded from Baltimore to Kansas City in 2021 for a compensation package that included a first round pick.

Thuney was a two-sport star in high school and received just four Power Five offers in football. He ultimately landed with the Wolfpack and played every position (except center) in four years with the program. Thuney was drafted by New England in 2016, and signed with Kansas City in 2021.

There was never a doubt that Humphrey was going to be a star. He was highly-recruited out of high school and chose to stay in-state instead of playing for multiple SEC teams that offered him. It proved to be the right decision, and Humphrey was the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2020. The Chiefs were chomping at the bit to draft him in 2021.

Smith could have played anywhere in the country, but chose to stay in his home state over nine other SEC offers and was a two-time First-Team All-SEC player with the Volunteers. He may have been the steal of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Only one school offered Wylie out of high school. The 6-foot-5, 304-pound tackle made 44 starts for the Eagles and was named Third-Team All-MAC player in his season but went undrafted. After signing with the Colts, Browns and Chargers practice squads in 2017, he signed with the Chiefs and was immediately elevated to the active roster. Indianapolis, Cleveland and Los Angeles missed on Wylie!

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS DEFENSE

Karlaftis has one of the most unique stories of this year's Super Bowl. He moved to America from Greece as an eighth grader and had spent his entire childhood as a standout water polo player. Despite his lack of knowledge of the sport, Karlaftis' freak athleticism helped him become one of the best recruits in the country. Insane Pro Day and NFL Combine performances helped propel him into the first round after three years at Purdue.

Arriving in Ann Arbor as an outside linebacker, Clark quickly moved to defensive end. He chose Michigan over offers from Cal, Michigan State and North Carolina, among others and played 46 games with the Wolverines. Drafted by Seattle, Clark played three years with the Seahawks before he was traded to Kansas City in 2019.

From Mississippi, Jones made it abundantly clear early on that he was headed to Starkville. His offer sheet may have been bigger if he was more open to other schools, but he was staying home. Jones started three years in Starkville before going pro early. His dominance over seven years with the Chiefs speaks for itself.

Of Nigerian descent, Nnandi chose Florida State over staying in Virginia to play for Virginia Tech and 16 other offers. He played four strong seasons with the Seminoles, but he did not play in the Senior Bowl due to an undisclosed injury and had a poor showing at the NFL Combine. His draft stock dropped as a result, but Kansas City pulled the trigger and he has been there ever since!

Another Mississippi product, Gay had 15 offers out of Starkville High School (the same school as Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown). He chose Mississippi State over LSU, Ole Miss, Michigan and Alabama and recorded 99 tackles, six sacks and three interceptions in three years with the Bulldogs. Gay has been with the Chiefs in all three years as a professional.

Bolton, a Texas-native, picked Missouri at the buzzer after being considered a hard Washington lean. He had 19 offers from Kansas, Arkansas State, Colorado and Indiana, among others. As a First-Team All-SEC player in 2019 and 2020, Bolton played his way into being drafted by the Chiefs on Day 2.

From Georgia, Watson has had a remarkable journey to the league. He did not earn a single FBS or FCS offer out of high school and went the JUCO route. A stellar sophomore season had him set to transfer to USC, but he did not qualify academically and did not play football in 2019.

Instead, Watson returned back to the Peach State and worked at a local Wendy's while getting his credits in order. He later transferred to Washington State and became an immediate starter, which led him to become a seventh-round pick.

Sneed stayed close to home out of high school and committed to La. Tech, though his offers were limited. Only Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette gave him a look. He played corner back and safety while in Ruston and was an absolute menace in the secondary, which is where the Chiefs saw his potential as a jack of all trades.

A California-native, it was a bit of a surprise when McDuffie chose Washington over USC and Stanford, though he had offers from 22 schools all across the country. Nick Saban and Alabama were in on his recruitment, as were LSU, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Michigan. He was a First-Team All-Pac-12 player in 2021 and left early to go pro and capitalize on his skyrocketing NFL Draft stock.

Reid's recruitment was all over the place. He visited LSU, Notre Dame, Texas Tech and Oklahoma, and had three Ivy League offers, but chose to play at the Ivy of the West. The Louisiana-native played three years for the Cardinal and recorded 170 tackles, six picks and one sack. Houston drafted Reid out of college and he played three years with the Texans before signing with the Chiefs before the 2022 season.

From Virginia, Thornhill chose the Cavaliers over other ACC programs and Virginia Tech. He didn't play much as a freshman, but stepped into the starting role as a sophomore. Thornhill established himself as one of the best safeties in the country with 98 tackles and six picks as a senior and continues to fly around like a banshee with Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS SPECIAL TEAMS

The Chiefs knew what they were doing when they used their last pick of the 2017 NFL Draft on Butker. He is the all-time leading scorer in Georgia Tech history!

Townsend grew up in Florida, but committed to Tennessee out of high school. After one year with the Vols, he transferred back home to play for the Gators. Townsend holds the school record for most yards by a punter in a single game with 432 yards on nine punts.

When the Kansas City Chiefs take the field against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, its roster will consist of players that come from a wide range of backgrounds. Talent always shines through.