Super Bowl 50: How many players were 4- or 5-star recruits in high school?

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Super Bowl 50, featuring the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos on Feb. 7, is the battle of the best two teams in the NFL. In total, eight players were 5-star recruits coming out of high school and 18 were 4-star recruits.

That puts the top two teams in the NFL just slightly ahead of IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), which was judged by the 247Sports High School Football Team Talent Composite as the most talented high school team in the nation. The 2015 Ascenders had five 5-star picks, according to 247Sports, to go with 14 4-star athletes.

Denver has just two 5-star players and seven 4-star athletes. Carolina has six 5-star players and 11 4-star players. The 5-star players for Denver include Andre Caldwell and Peyton Manning. Carolina's 5-star players are Ted Ginn Jr., Charles Johnson, Michale Oher, Shaq Thompson (see video), Greg Olsen and Jonathan Stewart.



Not all players on the Denver and Carolina rosters have a "star ranking." According to the rosters on 247Sports, some players do not have a star ranking, mainly due to their careers beginning before the star system was in place or because they were not highly recruited out of high school and thus did not have a star rank.

The majority of the players on both the Broncos and Panthers are 3-star recruits. In fact, Denver has 23 3-star players and Carolina has 15. Among the notable 3-star players are linebacker Von Miller of Denver and Luke Kuechly and Ryan Kalil of Carolina. Miller, Kuechly and Kalil all made the Associated Press All-Pro Team this year.

The following are the high schools for each player on the rosters along with their star ranking from high school, according to 247Sports.

Denver Broncos

Peyton Manning, QB, Newman (New Orleans), 5-star

Andre Caldwell, WR, Jefferson (Tampa, Fla.), 5-star

Vernon Davis, TE, Dunbar (Washington, D.C.), 4-star



Ryan Harris, T, Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.), 4-star

Sylvester Williams, NT, Jefferson City (Mo.), 4-star

Evan Mathis, G, Homewood (Ala.), 4-star

Lerentee McCray, OLB, Dunnellon (Fla.), 4-star

Corey Nelson, ILB, Skyline (Dallas), 4-star

Michael Schofield, T, Sandburg (Orland Park, Ill.), 4-star



Trevor Siemian, QB, Olympia (Orlando, Fla.), 3-star

Antonio Smith, DE, Marshall (Oklahoma City), 3-star

Von Miller, OLB, DeSoto (Texas), 3-star

Taurean Nixon, CB, Southern Lab (Baton Rouge, La.), 3-star

Kayvon Webster, CB, Monsignor Pace (Miami), 3-star

Darius Kilgo, NT, Weddington (Matthews, N.C.), 3-star



Cody Latimer, WR, Jefferson Township (Dayton, Ohio), 3-star

Ronnie Hillman, RB, La Habra (Calif.), 3-star

Malik Jackson, DE, Birmingham (Lake Balboa, Calif.), 3-star

Lorenzo Doss, CB, St. Augustine (New Orleans), 3-star

James Ferentz, C, Iowa City (Iowa), 3-star

Bennie Fowler, WR, Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.), 3-star



Max Garcia, G, Norcross (Ga.), 3-star

C.J. Anderson, RB, Bethel (Vallejo, Calif.), 3-star

Shaquil Barrett, OLB, Boys Town (Neb.), 3-star

Sam Brenner, C, Oceanside (Calif.), 3-star

Brock Osweiler, QB, Flathead (Kalispell, Mont.), 3-star

Tyler Polumbus, T, Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.), 3-star



Shane Ray, OLB, Bishop Miege (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), 3-star

Bradley Roby, CB, Peachtree Ridge (Suwanee, Ga.), 3-star

Demaryius Thomas, WR, West Laurens (Dexter, Ga.), 3-star

Juwan Thompson, RB, Woodward Academy (College Park, Ga.), 3-star

Louis Vasquez, G, Corsicana (Texas), 3-star

Aaron Brewer, LS, Troy (Fullerton, Calif.), 2-star



Britton Colquitt, P, Bearden (Knoxville, Tenn.), 2-star

Virgil Green, TE, Tulare Union (Calif.), 2-star

Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Bellville (Texas), 2-star

Chris Harris Jr., CB, Bixby (Okla.), 2-star

Shiloh Keo, S, Archbishop Murphy (Everett, Wash.), 2-star

Brandon Marshall, ILB, Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas), 2-star



Brandon McManus, K, North Penn (Lansdale, Pa.), 2-star

Aqib Talib, CB, Berkner (Richardson, Texas), 2-star

Danny Trevathan, ILB, Leesburg (Fla.), 2-star

Vance Walker, DE, Fort Mill (S.C.), 2-star

Owen Daniels, TE, Naperville Central (Ill.), NA

Todd Davis, ILB, Paraclete (Lancaster, Calif.), NA



Robert Myers, G, LaVergne (Tenn.), NA

Jordan Norwood, WR, State College (Pa.), NA

Matt Paradis, C, Council (Idaho), NA

Darian Stewart, S, Lee (Huntsville, Ala.), NA

T.J. Ward, S, De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), NA

Demarcus Ware, OLB, Auburn (Ala.), NA



Derek Wolfe, DE, Beaver (Lisbon, Ohio), NA

Carolina Panthers

Jonathan Stewart, RB, Timberline (Lacey, Wash.), 5-star

Shaq Thompson, LB, Grant (Sacramento, Calif.), 5-star

Michael Oher, T, Briarcrest Christian (Eads, Tenn.), 5-star

Greg Olsen, TE, Wayne Hills (Wayne, N.J.), 5-star

Ted Ginn Jr., WR, Glenville (Cleveland), 5-star



Charles Johnson, DE, Hawkinsville (Ga.), 5-star

Derek Anderson, QB, Scappoose (Ore.), 4-star

Devin Funchess, WR, Harrison (Farmington Hills, Mich.), 4-star

Philly Brown, WR, Cardinal O'Hara (Springfield, Pa.), 4-star

Kurt Coleman, S, Northmont (Clayton, Ohio), 4-star

Cam Newton, QB, Westlake (Atlanta), 4-star



Lou Young, CB, Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), 4-star

Daryl Williams, T, Lake Dallas (Corinth, Texas), 4-star

Kony Ealy, DE, New Madrid County Central (New Madrid, Mo.), 4-star

Andrew Norwell, G, Anderson (Cincinnati), 4-star

Chris Scott, G, Lovejoy (Ga.), 4-star

Brandon Wegher, RB, Bishop Heelan Catholic (Sioux City, Iowa), 4-star



Fozzy Whittaker, RB, Pearland (Texas), 3-star

Kawann Short, DT, East Chicago Central (Ind.), 3-star

Tre Boston, S, North Fort Myers (Fla.), 3-star

Ed Dickson, TE, Bellflower (Calif.), 3-star

Cameron Artis-Payne, RB, Harrisburg (Pa.), 3-star

Graham Gano, K, Tate (Cantonment, Fla.), 3-star



Colin Jones, S, Bridgeport (Texas), 3-star

Ryan Kalil, C, Servite (Anaheim, Calif.), 3-star

Trai Turner, G, St. Augustine (New Orleans), 3-star

Fernando Velasco, G, Jefferson County (Louisville, Ga.), 3-star

A.J. Klein, LB, Kimberly (Wis.), 3-star

Luke Kuechly, LB, St. Xavier (Cincinnati), 3-star



Brad Nortman, P, Brookfield Central (Wis.), 3-star

Kevin Norwood, WR, D'Iberville (Miss.), 3-star

Star Lotulelei, DT, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah), 3-star

Kyle Love, DT, North Clayton (College Park, Ga.), 2-star

David Mayo, LB, Scappoose (Ore.), 2-star

Robert McClain, CB, Patuxent (Lusby, Md.), 2-star



Mario Addison, DE, Tarrant (Birmingham, Ala.), 2-star

Ben Jacobs, LB, Silverado (Las Vegas), 2-star

Joe Webb, QB, Wenonah (Birmingham, Ala.), 2-star

Jared Allen, DE, Los Gatos (Calif.), NA

Brenton Bersin, WR, Charlotte Latin (N.C.), NA

Jerricho Cotchery, WR, Phillips (Bear Creek, Ala.), NA



Thomas Davis, LB, Randolph-Clay (Cuthbert, Ga.), NA

Ryan Delaire, DE, Windsor (Conn.), NA

Dwan Edwards, DT, Columbus (Mont.), NA

Cortland Finnegan, CB, Milton (Fla.), NA

Roman Harper, S, Prattville (Ala.), NA

J.J. Jansen, LS, Brophy College Prep (Phoenix), NA



Dean Marlowe, S, Holy Cross (Flushing, N.Y.), NA

Josh Norman, CB, Greenwood (S.C.), NA

Mike Remmers, T, Jesuit (Portland, Ore.), NA

Scott Simonson, TE, Middletown South (N.J.), NA

Mike Tolbert, FB, Douglas County (Douglasville, Ga.), NA

Teddy Williams, CB, Tyler (Texas), NA