The Carolina Panthers are reasonably narrow favorites against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, with sportsbooks starting off Carolina with a 3.5-point edge. If the game were being picked based on high school recruiting rankings, the Panthers would probably be picked to win in a total rout.

The Panthers' projected starters include six five-star college prospects and four more four-star players, including Heisman Trophy and national championship-winning quarterback Cam Newton. The Broncos don't have a single five-star recruit set to start for them, although quarterback Peyton Manning likely would've been one if he weren't too old for the recruiting ratings era. He's the son of an NFL quarterback, was a high school wunderkind and made national waves when he decided to play at Tennessee over Ole Miss.

Last year's Super Bowl was a three-star extravaganza all around. This one brings a wider disparity. Carolina's projected starters averaged 3.37 recruiting stars, while Denver's averaged 2.44.

Ten or 15 years ago, it was foreseeable that Carolina's current crop of players could be the nucleus for a Super Bowl team. Denver's players, not so much. Here's how they all rated on the 247Sports Composite, unless otherwise noted.

Panthers starters

Pos. Player Stars College College note QB Cam Newton 4 Auburn Won 2010 Heisman Trophy RB Jonathan Stewart 5 Oregon Maxwell Award semifinalist FB Mike Tolbert 1 Coastal Carolina First Coastal Carolina player in an NFL game WR Philly Brown 4 Ohio State Finished with fifth-most receptions in school history WR Ted Ginn, Jr. 5 Ohio State Recruited as a defensive back TE Greg Olsen 5 Miami Part of famed Miami teams of the early 2000s LT Michael Oher 5 Ole Miss Profiled in the movie The Blind Side LG Andrew Norwell 4 Ohio State Two-time first-team All-Big Ten performer C Ryan Kalil 3 USC Blocked two field goals (!) at USC RG Trai Turner 3 LSU Started for two years, left with two years of eligibility RT Mike Remmers 0 Oregon State Walked on DE Charles Johnson 5 Georgia Left for NFL after being second team All-SEC DT Star Lotulelei 3 Utah Began at BYU DT Kawann Short 3 Purdue Purdue was only Power 5 offer; named to various All-Freshman teams DE Jared Allen N/A (too old) Idaho State One of three current NFL players from Idaho State LB Shaq Thompson 5 Washington Won 2014 Hornung Award as country's most versatile player LB Luke Kuechly 3 Boston College Boston College calls him "one of the most decorated defensive players in college football history," and it's true LB Thomas Davis N/A (too old) Georiga 2004 consensus All-American CB Robert McClain 2 UConn Returned kicks, nabbed 10 picks in college CB Josh Norman 0 Coastal Carolina Named FCS All-American in 2011 S Roman Harper N/A (too old) Alabama Finished college career with over 300 tackles S Kurt Coleman 4 Ohio State Played for two national championships for Ohio State

Carolina inside linebacker Luke Kuechly is one of the best players in the NFL, and he was just a run-of-the-mill three-star prospect when he got to Boston College. Josh Norman is a Pro Bowl cornerback and played his college ball in the FCS, and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kawann Short couldn't get power conference offers anywhere except Purdue. It's not as if Carolina's entire team is built on blue-chippers.

But a big-time recruiting pedigree definitely doesn't hurt a player's NFL chances. Newton is Newton, and five-star running back Jonathan Stewart has turned in a productive eight-year career. Defensive end Charles Johnson had five stars, as did passing targets Ted Ginn Jr. and Greg Olsen. They made a movie about five-star left tackle Michael Oher.

Broncos starters

Denver has a couple of important contributors who might've rated well if they weren't too old for these ratings. In addition to Manning, tight end Owen Daniels, guard Evan Mathis and future Hall of Fame linebacker DeMarcus Ware are logistical oversights. Ware didn't get major college offers and ultimately followed close friend Osi Umenyiora to Troy, in an interesting recruiting backstory from ESPN's Greg Garber:

Naturally, they both saw themselves playing for Auburn, the local college powerhouse. That didn't happen, though, and Umenyiora matriculated to the program at nearby Troy University, where he redshirted his first year. When Ware didn't get any major offers coming out of high school, Umenyiora said he talked the Troy University staff into bringing him in. "He said, 'You know what? This guy is going to be a player,'" Ware said. "'You need to pick him up, he is my boy. I will take him under my wing, and he will be a great pass-rusher.' I got a scholarship down there, and it could have been because of him."

That's right: Troy had to be talked into taking Ware. Recruiting can be a funny world.

Player development, by and large, is what powers Denver. Either during college or once they got to the NFL, an impressive nine recruits rated two stars or lower became Denver's Super Bowl starters. Two-star cornerbacks Chris Harris and Aqib Talib are two of the best in the world at their position, and two-star receiver Emmanuel Sanders went over 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons with Denver. Starting center Matt Paradis was a Boise State walk-on.

This game isn't a huge mismatch. After all, Denver has the NFL's leading defense. But when Carolina has the ball against that defense, the recruiting gap will be enormous.

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