After the party it’s the Waffle House, if you ever been here you know what I’m talkin’ about, and today, we’re talking about recruiting rankings, stars, and the NFL Playoffs.
2017 NFC Championship starters: The Packers and Falcons as recruits
Some of the NFL stars were huge recruits, but some were not.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
The NFC Championship game descends on dear Atlanta this weekend. The Falcons host the Packers and at one point in time nearly every player in this game was defined by their recruiting star rating.
It’s fun to look back and see how these players were viewed in high school.
I know what many of you are thinking: “stars don’t matter,” (they do). And when you get to the table under this text you’ll probably say “these teams have plenty of three-stars on them, what gives?” Well, let me explain.
Each year, roughly 4,500 football players sign Division I scholarships. In 2010, the year from which most of the prospects in the 2014 draft came, 27 were rated as five-stars by Rivals.com. Five-stars are considered no-doubt, superstar-type players. There were 395 four-stars, a designation for very good players, and 1,644 three-stars, or good players. And 2,434 were rated as two-stars or not rated at all, meaning they are at the lowest levels of FBS (85-scholarship level) or FCS players (63-scholarship level).
OK, you good? Great. Let’s look at the starters from both teams and see where the stars land. There’s fun facts here too to keep you occupied and whatnot. Oh, and if there’s an N/A next to a player’s name it’s because they were too much of a low-level prospect in high school, or they came around before recruiting rankings were en vogue.
For the Falcons, it should come as no surprise that Julio Jones is and has always been a five-star athlete. In fact, he was almost the highest rated player in the nation the year he came out.
Falcons: 5-Stars: 1 | 4-Stars: 3 | 3-Stars: 11 | 2-/1-Stars/Unrated: 7
Four- and five-star recruits make up 19 percent of Atlanta’s starters, even though they comprise just 10 percent of all Division I signees on a yearly basis.
Pos. | Player | Stars | College | Notes |
|---|
Packers: 5-Stars: 1 | 4-Stars: 5 | 3-Stars: 8 | 2-/1-Stars/Unrated: 8
As a JUCO prospect, it’s no wonder Aaron Rodgers was slept on as only a three-star. But Green Bay’s defense is packed with blue chip guys starting. Four of the Packers’ six blue-chippers are on defense.
In fact, 28 percent of Green Bay’s starters are former four- and five-star recruits. That is nearly triple the rate at which those recruits are represented among Division I signees.
Pos. | Player | Stars | College | Notes |
|---|
