Super Bowl 50: Impact two-stars

With SuperBowl 50 approaching, we thought it would be interesting to look at the top two-, three-, four- and five-stars that should impact the game. Today we look at the two-stars, where the Broncos dominate with all five players.

Players are ranked in order of how we feel they will impact the Super Bowl.

The skinny: Emmanuel Sanders committed to SMU over offers from Houston, Baylor, TCU and Kansas. With the Mustangs, Sanders had three highly productive seasons, totaling 239 receptions for 3,186 yards and 29 touchdowns. This led him to be selected with the 82nd overall pick in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft by Pittsburgh, where he continued to improve his production during his four seasons. Signed by Denver as a free agent in 2014, Sanders has teamed up with Peyton Manning to total 177 receptions for 2,539 yards and 15 touchdowns over the last two seasons. In the playoffs, he has added 10 receptions for 147 yards, but he is still looking for his first touchdown.

Farrell’s take: Sanders had some solid offers, but not many of them were committable as far as I remember. He was a smallish receiver with average speed, but his change of direction and ball skills certainly were in place. At that time, a guy like Sanders was overlooked, whereas in this day and age, he probably could have put himself on the map with camps. He’s obviously exceeded all expectations from the moment he started playing at SMU.

The skinny: Aqib Talib picked up offers from Kansas, Baylor, Arizona, Tulsa and Wyoming during his process, but at the end it came down to the Jayhawks and Cowboys. He took official visits to both schools after his senior season and committed to Kansas a few days after returning home from Lawrence. Talib had a storied career in Kansas, finishing it off in 2007 when he was named the Orange Bowl MVP after returning an interception for a touchdown against Virginia Tech. Selected with the 20th overall pick in 2008 by Tampa Bay, Talib spent five seasons with the Bucs before making his way to New England and then Denver. Along the way, he has earned three Pro Bowl invites, and this will be his first Super Bowl after playing in three AFC Championships. After totaling 45 tackles and three interceptions during the regular season in 2015, Talib has chipped in with nine tackles and four pass break-ups in the playoffs.

Farrell’s take: Hard to figure out why Talib didn’t get more attention from schools or why he was ranked so low, but again it comes down to the lack of exposure back then at the beginning of our rankings. Even if he should have been a three-star, he has played like a five-star everywhere he has gone. He had good size, but it was his instincts that we didn’t see. His swagger and willingness and love to be on an island and that underdog mentality has made him a star.

The skinny: Brandon Marshall’s recruiting process came down to Nevada and Colorado State before he made his decision to commit to the Wolfpack a week before National Signing Day. At Nevada, he was a three-year starter and led the Wolfpack in tackles as a junior and senior. Marshall was selected in the fifth round by Jacksonville in the 2012 Draft, but spent only one season with the Jaguars. Making his way to Denver as a free agent, Marshall finally saw his opportunity in the NFL after Von Miller went down with an injury in 2014. Since then, he has firmly established himself as an important part of the Broncos defense, finishing each of the last two seasons with over 100 tackles. In the playoffs, he has continued his solid play with nine tackles, two pass break ups and a forced fumble.

Farrell’s take: Marshall’s ability to cover has been beyond impressive in the playoffs and he had that ability in high school. He didn’t have great size nor was he super-fast coming out. Nevada doesn’t get highly recruited, so he flew under the radar a bit because of that but he turned from a mid-round NFL pick to an important cog in the Broncos' run to the Super Bowl.

The skinny: Pulling in offers from Kansas, Tulsa, Iowa State, Colorado State and Wyoming, it came down to the Jayhawks and the local Golden Hurricanes for Chris Harris. He actually committed to Kansas after a January official visit, but still took an official to Tulsa before deciding to stick with the Jayhawks. Harris put together an impressive collegiate career in Lawrence before making his way to the NFL. However, despite totaling 290 tackles and 16 pass break-ups at Kansas, he went undrafted. He signed a free agent contract with Denver and has put together five very successful seasons with the Broncos. This season, he was selected to both his second Pro Bowl and All-Pro team, and in the playoffs has totaled 10 tackles and two pass break-ups.

Farrell’s take: Another cornerback who went to Kansas and fell way under the radar? Yep. We had him as an athlete out of high school because he could have played offense or defense, but many didn’t feel he was sudden or fluid enough to make an impact as a corner with his size and length and that he’d be an average offensive player. Oooops. But even after a solid career at Kansas, the NFL dissed him as well and didn’t draft him and now he’s a Pro Bowler. It happens.

The skinny: Danny Trevathan had his fair share of college options, including SEC offers from Kentucky, Arkansas and Ole Miss. However, after taking an official visit to check out the Wildcats in January, he committed soon after. In Lexington, Trevathan established himself as a dominant SEC linebacker. He led the conference in tackles with 144 in 2010 and again in 2011 with 143. Despite these accomplishments he slipped to the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, where he was selected by Denver. After an injury plagued 2014 season, Trevathan responded nicely with 109 tackles and two interceptions this season. In two playoffs games this season, he has totaled 14 tackles and one pass break-up.

Farrell’s take: Trevathan had adequate size, but wasn’t the quickest linebacker, which led to being ignored by the big three in Florida and some of the major powers in the SEC. But sometimes instincts can’t be evaluated as they develop further and he became a solid tackler and a guy who always knew where to be on the field at Kentucky. Again, dissed in the NFL draft by slipping to the sixth round, he is starting to emerge as a key playmaker.