Dan Zaksheske
Videos by OutKick
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.
Of the 27 key players on the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster, four were five-star recruits, six were four-star, four were three-star, four were two-star and nine didn’t have any stars out of high school.
On Tuesday, OutKick’s Grayson Weir broke down the construction of the Kansas City Chiefs roster.
Now, here is how the Philadelphia Eagles roster was built:
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES OFFENSE
- QB — Jalen Hurts
- Age: 24
- Recruiting ranking: Four-star, Class of 2016
- College: Alabama, Oklahoma
- NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 53 (2020)
It’s hard to find a more convoluted path to Super Bowl quarterback than Jalen Hurts. Coming out of Texas, Lane Kiffin recruited Hurts to Alabama. Hurts had more than 16 offers but selected the Tide. He led the team to the National Championship in his freshman season, but lost. As a sophomore, he was replaced by Tua Tagovailoa in the National Championship and the team went on to win the title.
Undeterred, Hurts returned to Alabama as a backup the following season. But, after a season behind Tagovailoa, Hurts graduated from Alabama early and left for Oklahoma as a grad transfer. He led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff but they lost in the semifinal. Despite Hurts’ roller coaster college career, the Eagles selected him in the middle of the second round in the 2020 NFL Draft. In his second season as a full-time NFL starter, Hurts has led the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance.
- RB — Miles Sanders
- Age: 25
- Recruiting ranking: Five-star, Class of 2016
- College: Penn State
- NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 53 (2019)
A five-star recruit out of Pittsburgh, Sanders elected to stay in-state and attend Penn State. Sanders had 22 offers as a highly-sought, top-ranked recruit and chose the Nittany Lions over Alabama. Playing behind Saquon Barkley at Penn State, Sanders didn’t see much action in his first two collegiate seasons. He recorded over 1,500 yards from scrimmage as a junior and left school early to declare for the draft. Interestingly, he was selected with the exact same pick as Jalen Hurts (53rd overall) just one season prior (2019).
- RB — Boston Scott
- Age: 27
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2013
- College: Louisiana Tech
- NFL Draft: Round 6, Pick 201 (2018)
Little-recruited Boston Scott had just one offer from a Division-I school and it came from Louisiana Tech, a program located less than 20 miles south of his high school in Zachary, Louisiana. He spent five seasons with the Bulldogs, playing sparingly until a 1,200-yard scrimmage season as a redshirt senior. That was enough for the New Orleans Saints to draft him in the 6th round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Scott never cracked the Saints lineup and the Eagles signed him off the New Orleans practice squad in his rookie season.
- RB — Kenneth Gainwell
- Age: 23
- Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2018
- College: Memphis
- NFL Draft: Round 5, Pick 150 (2021)
Gainwell hails from Mississippi and selected Memphis over an offer from in-state Ole Miss. He had eight offers in total, though the Rebels were the only Power-5 school. Gainwell played quarterback in high school, but transitioned to running back for the Tigers. He put up monster numbers as a redshirt freshman, amassing over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 16 touchdowns in 2019. Citing COVID-19 concerns, Gainwell opted out of the 2020 season and later declared for the 2021 NFL Draft. After playing just one full season at the collegiate level, the Eagles selected Gainwell with the 150th overall pick.
- TE — Dallas Goedert
- Age: 28
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2013
- College: South Dakota State
- NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 49 (2018)
Dallas Goedert had no offers out of high school. Coming from a small town in South Dakota, it was hard for him to be noticed by recruiters. Undeterred, Goedert walked-on at South Dakota State. He became a two-time FCS All-American as a Jackrabbit. His size and college production were enough for the Eagles to make him a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
- WR — A.J. Brown
- Age: 25
- Recruiting ranking: Four-star, Class of 2016
- College: Ole Miss
- NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 51 (2019)
Hailing from Starkville, Mississippi, Brown spurned his hometown school Mississippi State and elected to attend in-state rival Ole Miss. Brown had offers from 11 schools, including Alabama. He was a two-sport star in high school and became the second player (Kyler Murray) to play in both the Under Armour All-America Football and Baseball games. Brown recorded just under 3,000 yards in his college career at Ole Miss, prompting the Tennessee Titans to select him with the 51st pick in 2019 NFL Draft.
Following a three-year career in Tennessee, the Titans sent Brown to the Eagles in a draft-day trade this past offseason. The Eagles parted with their first round pick and a third round pick to acquire Brown. Fair to say that Philadelphia has no regrets about that trade, as Brown has been one of the biggest contributors to the team’s Super Bowl run.
- WR — DeVonta Smith
- Age: 24
- Recruiting ranking: Four-star, Class of 2017
- College: Alabama
- NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 10 (2021)
A four-star recruit out of Louisiana, Smith had offers from many top schools including Georgia, Florida State and in-state LSU. But Smith elected to attend powerhouse Alabama. He won a Heisman Trophy and two National Championships with the Crimson Tide before declaring for the NFL Draft. Smith recorded just under 4,000 total yards in college and scored 47 touchdowns, including 24 in his Heisman campaign. The Eagles selected him with the final pick in the Top 10 in 2021.
- WR — Quez Watkins
- Age: 24
- Recruiting ranking: Two-star, Class of 2016
- College: Southern Miss
- NFL Draft: Round 6, Pick 200 (2020)
Watkins had three college offers coming out of high school in Alabama and chose Southern Miss. He became a two-time All-Conference USA performer and left school early for the 2020 NFL Draft. The Eagles picked him with the 200th overall selection.
- LT — Jordan Mailata
- Age: 25
- Recruiting ranking: N/A
- College: None
- NFL Draft: Round 7, Pick 233 (2018)
What a story Jordan Mailata has. He did not play American Football until he reached the NFL. Mailata was a rugby player in his home nation of Australia and entered the NFL through the league’s International Player Pathway Program, entering him in the 2018 NFL Draft. He fainted prior to the start of one of his rugby seasons, leading to surgery on his heart. In fact, rugby squads in Australia were weary of his heart issues and did not feel as though it was the right sport for him.
NFL executives saw clips of his rugby playing career and invited him to the Pathway Program. He trained at the IMG Academy in Florida where he was noticed by Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. Stoutland’s guidance and recommendation led Philadelphia to take a chance on Mailata very late in the 2018 NFL Draft. He didn’t even play during his first two seasons as he learned the game for the first time. Mailata has since started 40 games over the past three seasons. Now, he starts in the Super Bowl.
- LG — Landon Dickerson
- Age: 24
- Recruiting ranking: Four-star, Class of 2016
- College: Florida State, Alabama
- NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 37 (2021)
Dickerson was a highly-sought four-star recruit out of North Carolina with 21 college football offers. He initially chose Florida State over Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn among others. Dickerson suffered multiple injuries in three years at Florida State, incurring season-ending ailments in each season. He used that time away from football to earn his degree in just three years, allowing him to leave as a graduate transfer.
He went to Alabama, one of the schools he initially passed on and became a unanimous All-American during the Crimson Tide’s 2020 National Championship season. His injury history caused him to slip to the second round in the 2021 NFL Draft, where the Eagle eventually selected him.
- C — Jason Kelce
- Age: 35
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2006
- College: Cincinnati
- NFL Draft: Round 6, Pick 191 (2011)
Kelce’s brother, Travis, was a two-star recruit out of their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio and had limited college offers. Unlike Travis, however, Kelce had 0 college offers and walked-on at Cincinnati. In fact, it was likely the elder Kelce making the Bearcats team as a walk-on that got Travis noticed. Jason played linebacker in high school and started his Bearcats’ career at the position.
But even after winning the team’s Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year Award during his redshirt season, Kelce moved to offensive line in the offseason and had to work hard to crack the starting lineup. He eventually did and earned All-Big East Second Team honors as a senior.
The Eagles selected him in the 6th round of the 2011 NFL Draft and he’s started 176 games for the team over the past 12 seasons and hasn’t missed a game since 2014. He has started 139 consecutive regular season games, the second-longest active streak in the NFL (Jake Matthews, 144). If you count playoff starts, the Super Bowl will represent Kelce’s 149th straight start for the Eagles.
- RG — Isaac Seumalo
- Age: 29
- Recruiting ranking: Five-star, Class of 2012
- College: Oregon State
- NFL Draft: Round 3, Pick 79 (2016)
Seumalo was a big-time recruit out of Corvallis, Oregon with offers from all the major Pac-12 programs. He elected to remain in his hometown and attend Oregon State. Seumalo became the first true freshman to start at center for the Beavers since 1978 and earned Freshman All-American honors. He missed the entire 2014 season due to injury and declared for the NFL Draft following 2015. The Eagles selected him in the third round.
- RT — Lane Johnson
- Age: 32
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2009
- College: Oklahoma
- NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 4
A quarterback and track & field athlete in high school out of Kilgore, Texas, Johnson did not receive any offers to play college football. He attended junior college, where he played quarterback and tight end at Kilgore College. Following his only season there, he transferred to Oklahoma where he continued as a quarterback. However, he transitioned to tight end and then to defensive end.
Due to multiple injuries on the team’s offensive line, coaches asked Johnson to try playing on that side. The junior took to it immediately and became the team’s starting right tackle. He switched to left tackle for his senior season and performed so well that he became a Top 5 pick in the NFL Draft.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES DEFENSE
- DE — Brandon Graham
- Age: 34
- Recruiting ranking: Five-star, Class of 2006
- College: Michigan
- NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 13 (2010)
Graham was a five-star linebacker recruit out of Detroit who chose Michigan over Big Ten rival Penn State. He switched to defensive end and earned Big Ten Most Valuable Player and First Team All-America honors in 2009, leading the Eagles to select him with the 13th overall pick in the NFL Draft.
- DE — Josh Sweat
- Age: 25
- Recruiting ranking: Five-star, Class of 2015
- College: Florida State
- NFL Draft: Round 4, Pick 130 (2018)
Another former five-star recruit on the Eagles defensive line, Sweat chose Florida State over virtually every other school in the country — he had a whopping 57 offers out of high school as a Top 10 recruit in the 2015 class out of Chesapeake, Virginia. Though he was a highly-regarded recruit, Sweat’s college career never turned into what the Seminoles had hoped and he left school early to declare for the 2018 NFL Draft, where the Eagles picked him in the fourth round.
- DT — Fletcher Cox
- Age: 32
- Recruiting ranking: Four-star, Class of 2009
- College: Mississippi State
- NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 12 (2012)
Another highly-regarded recruit on Philadelphia’s defensive line, Cox hails from Mississippi and stayed in-state and headed to Starkville over offers from LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss and others. He earned First Team All-America honors in 2011 and declared for the NFL Draft. The Eagles traded up three spots from 15th overall to select Cox at number 12.
- DT — Javon Hargrave
- Age: 30
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2012
- College: South Carolina State
- NFL Draft: Round 3, Pick 89 (2016)
The anomaly on the Eagles defensive line, Hargrave received just one scholarship offer and attended South Carolina State. Against Bethune-Cookman in 2015, Hargrave tied the FCS record for sacks in a single game with six. He was a two-time First Team All-MEAC performed and the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him with the 89th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Following four seasons in Pittsburgh, Hargrave became a free agent. The Eagles signed him in 2020.
- OLB — Haason Reddick
- Age: 28
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2012
- College: Temple
- NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 13
Reddick received no scholarship offers out of high school, in part due to a fractured femur in his senior season that cost him most of the year. He walked on at Temple as a safety and running back. He eventually switched to defensive end and earned All-AAC honors in 2016. Following an incredible Senior Bowl performance where he switched to linebacker, Reddick flew up NFL Draft boards.
A player not recruited out of high school who was seen as a late-round pick suddenly got scooped up in the middle of the first round by the Arizona Cardinals. After four seasons in Arizona, Reddick signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers. After just that season, the Eagles signed him this past offseason to a three-year deal. Reddick posted a career-high 16 sacks in his first season in Philadelphia.
- OLB — Kyzir White
- Age: 26
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2014
- College: West Virginia
- NFL Draft: Round 4, Pick 119
With no scholarship offers after a high school career in Scranton, Pennsylvania, White attended junior college at Lackawanna in Scranton. After two seasons, he started getting offers from Division-I schools and chose West Virginia over Pittsburgh, Arizona State, Louisville and Illinois. He played two seasons for the Mountaineers and declared for the NFL Draft. The Chargers selected him in the fourth round and he spent four seasons with the team. The Eagles signed him to a one-year contract in the offseason.
- MLB — T.J. Edwards
- Age: 26
- Recruiting ranking: Two-star, Class of 2014
- College: Wisconsin
- NFL Draft: Undrafted (2019)
A high school quarterback out of Illinois, Edwards initially committed to Western Michigan before flipping to Wisconsin. The Badgers recruited him to play defense and he earned Freshman All-America honors in his redshirt-freshman season. He spent five years at the school and then declared for the NFL Draft but did not get picked. The Eagles signed him as a UDFA and he made the opening day roster and appeared in all 16 games in 2019. From then on, Edwards has been a mainstay on the Eagles defense, starting 43 games over the past three seasons.
- CB — Darius Slay
- Age: 32
- Recruiting ranking: N/A, Class of 2009
- College: Mississippi State
- NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 36 (2013)
Slay did not receive any scholarship offers out of high school and attended junior college at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi. After two seasons, he received a scholarship offer from Mississippi State and became a Bulldog. Following two seasons in Starkville, Slay declared for the NFL Draft and the Detroit Lions selected him early in the second round. Slay spent seven seasons in Detroit before the team traded him to Philadelphia in 2020 for a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick. Slay also signed a contract extension with the Eagles, which expires after this season.
- CB — James Bradberry
- Age: 29
- Recruiting ranking: Two-star, Class of 2011
- College: Arkansas State, Samford
- NFL Draft: Round 2, Pick 62 (2016)
A very lightly-recruited player out of Pleasant Grove, Alabama, Bradberry accepted a scholarship offer to attend Arkansas State. He redshirted his only season at the school and transferred to Samford. He started all but one game at cornerback for Samford and declared for the 2016 NFL Draft. The Carolina Panthers picked him in the second round and he spent four seasons with the team. He signed with the New York Giants in free agency, but they released him prior to this season. The Eagles gave him a one-year contract that immediately paid off, as the league named Bradberry to the All-Pro Second Team.
- CB — Avonte Maddox
- Age: 26
- Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2014
- College: Pittsburgh
- NFL Draft: Round 4, Pick 125 (2018)
Maddox began high school focusing on baseball before switching to football as a junior. He came out of Detroit as a three-star recruit with two Division-I scholarship offers. He ultimately selected Pitt over Purdue. There was a chance he would be drafted in the MLB Draft after his senior high school season, but it never materialized so he headed to Pittsburgh. He became a four-year starter for the Panthers and the Eagles selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Philadelphia extended him this past offseason following the expiration of his rookie deal.
- SS — C.J. Gardner-Johnson
- Age: 25
- Recruiting ranking: Four-star, Class of 2016
- College: Florida
- NFL Draft: Round 4, Pick 105 (2019)
The only four-star or above recruit in the Eagles secondary is Chauncey Gardner, Jr. out of Cocoa, Florida. Gardner was a Top 50 prospect in his class and chose Florida over Miami, Georgia, Alabama and Notre Dame among his 25 scholarship offers. Following his sophomore season, he changed the name on his jersey to Gardner-Johnson to honor his stepfather, Brian Johnson. He played three seasons for the Gators before declaring for the NFL Draft.
The New Orleans Saints selected him in the fourth round and he played three seasons in New Orleans where he lined up all over the defensive backfield. The Eagles traded a pair of late-round draft picks to acquire Gardner-Johnson just prior to this season. The Eagles made him their primary strong safety and the move worked out well for both sides as Gardner-Johnson tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions this season.
- FS — Reed Blankenship
- Age: 23
- Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2017
- College: Middle Tennessee State
- NFL Draft: Undrafted
A three-star recruit from Alabama, Blankenship garnered mostly small school attention and accepted a scholarship offer to play at Middle Tennessee State. A 2021 First Team All-Conference USA performer, Blankenship elected to return to school rather than declare for the draft, where he was a projected middle-round selection. Despite a solid season as a fifth-year senior, he went undrafted in this past year’s NFL Draft. The Eagles signed him as a UDFA and he made the team out of preseason.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES SPECIAL TEAMS
- K — Jake Elliott
- Age: 28
- Recruiting ranking: Two-star, Class of 2013
- College: Memphis
- NFL Draft: Round 5, Pick 153 (2017)
Elliott played tennis in high school in Illinois and only joined the football team after a coach noticed him kicking field goals during a student kicking contest. He excelled so much that he earned scholarship offers from Memphis and North Dakota, electing to accept the former’s offer. Elliott earned Second Team All-America honors in 2015 and ultimately wound up getting picked by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fifth round of the draft.
After losing the starting job to Randy Bullock, the Bengals moved Elliott to their practice squad. The Eagles signed him after their starting kicker, Caleb Sturgis, got hurt. Elliott has been the Eagles starting kicker since then, career 85% field goal kicker since 2017.
- P — Arryn Siposs
- Age: 30
- Recruiting ranking: Three-star, Class of 2018
- College: Auburn
- NFL Draft: Undrafted (2020)
Talk about a unique trip to the NFL, if it weren’t for Jordan Mailata, Siposs would definitely claim the crown for the strangest journey to this year’s Super Bowl. Siposs was born and raised in Australia, playing Australian Rules Football. At the age of 25, he switched to American football and opened recruiting to play college football in the United States. Listed as a three-star recruit, Siposs accepted an offer from Auburn University.
Because of his unique journey, he had just two years of eligibility. He declared for the 2020 NFL Draft and was not selected. The Detroit Lions signed his as a UDFA and he bounced back and forth between their practice squad and being a free agent before the Eagles signed him signed him in January, 2021.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers actually drafted him in the fourth round of the 2021 CFL Draft, but Siposs elected to battle for the Eagles starting punter job instead of leaving for the CFL. He won the job prior to the 2021 season and kept it through this season. However, he suffered an injury in December and has been out since Week 13. But, he’s expected to return for the Super Bowl.
There you have it. The Philadelphia Eagles main contributors and how they reached this point. It’s fascinating that nearly the entire offense (save for A.J. Brown) was drafted by the team. But, on the defensive side, only three main contributors are Eagles draft picks.
It goes to show there is more than one way to build a team. Heck, there is more than one way to build a team even within a single team!
Follow Dan Zaksheske on Twitter: @OutkickDanZ
