Where are all the stars in Super Bowl LI?

If you scan the rosters of the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots, you realize there aren't as many true stars that will take the field Sunday in Houston as we might normally see in a Super Bowl.

Without injured tight end Rob Gronkowski, how many stars do the Patriots have? Tom Brady is one. Then who?

Is rising corner Malcolm Butler a star? How about linebacker Dont'a Hightower?

Atlanta wide receiver Julio Jones and quarterback Matt Ryan are stars, but can second-year pass rusher Vic Beasley be considered one just yet?

It's a tribute to the two quarterbacks and the coaching staffs that these two teams are here.

Great quarterbacks cure ills, and bad ones expose them.

Brady is an all-time great, maybe the best ever. Ryan is having an all-time great season and has elevated his game into being considered among the best in the NFL.

That's why they are No. 1 and No. 3 in my ranking of the 46 Super Bowl LI starters, which includes starters from the two title games and one extra defender for each team.

Brady tops the list, while Ryan checks in one spot behind Jones. They are the stars of this game. After that, it's tough putting together the list because there just isn't a lot of star power.

With that, here are my rankings of the 46 starters in Super Bowl LI: