10 February 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — It’s been a long road for both Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy since the two quarterbacks were walking the halls of their respective high schools.
While they’re regarded by most as two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL now, and will face off in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, high school football recruiting services weren’t necessarily high on their abilities heading into college.
There are four major recruiting services in the industry now, with Rivals, 247Sports, On3 and ESPN ranking athletes with star ratings and projecting their abilities at the next level.
It’s important to note when Mahomes and Purdy were coming out of high school, On3 didn’t exist, as it launched in April 2021.
These recruiting services give players a star rating from two to five stars, with the five-star recruits generally being regarded as some of the best in their respective classes. Each service has different ways they evaluate recruits, but they line up fairly similar across the board.
Some examples of five-star quarterbacks would be Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence and Carolina’s Bryce Young, who both won National Championships during their times in college.
But the two quarterbacks facing off on Sunday weren’t necessarily regarded as the best coming out of high school. Here’s a closer look at Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy’s path to the NFL.
Patrick Mahomes — Whitehouse, Texas
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
He’s known now as a two-time NFL champion, leading the Chiefs to championship wins over the San Francisco 49ers in 2020 and Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, but as a recruit he wasn’t looked at so highly.
Coming out of Whitehouse High School in the class of 2014, Mahomes was rated by Rivals as a three-star recruit and the No. 49-ranked recruit in the state of Texas. Rivals ranked 11 quarterbacks in the class higher than him.
247Sports also ranked him a three-star recruit, the No. 82 player in the state of Texas and No. 29 pro-style quarterback in the country.
ESPN ranked Mahomes as a three-star prospect, the No. 99 player in Texas and the No. 22 quarterback in the country.
Mahomes held just four college offers: Texas Tech, Houston, Oklahoma State and Rice. Other teams like Arkansas, LSU, Miami and others had interest, but never extended an offer.
He chose to commit to Texas Tech on April 22, 2013. For his career in 32 games with the Red Raiders, he threw for 11,252 yards and 93 touchdowns before being drafted with the 10th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Brock Purdy — Gilbert, Arizona
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) passes against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Brock Purdy’s path is in some ways even more remarkable than Mahomes. Not only was Purdy ranked low as a high school athlete, he waited until the very last pick — known fondly as the “Mr. Irrelevant” pick — in the 2022 NFL Draft to hear his name called.
Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports all had Purdy ranked as a three-star recruit. 247Sports had him ranked the No. 10 player in Arizona and No. 24 quarterback nationally. Rivals didn’t even rank him as one of the best in the state or country. ESPN had him at No. 5 in Arizona and the No. 39 quarterback in the class.
Coming out of Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona, Purdy had a longer offer sheet than Mahomes did, with offers from Texas A&M, Central Florida, Alabama, Boise State, Iowa State and others.
Purdy took official visits to several schools but landed on Iowa State, where he committed and later signed on Feb. 7, 2018.
While at Iowa State, Purdy played four seasons from 2018 to 2022. He threw for 12,170 yards and 81 touchdowns. He had his best season in 2019, throwing for 3,982 yards and 27 touchdowns.