Super Bowl LIX features a showdown between quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts for the second time in three years. While the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles stars differ in style of play, several similarities unite the Texas high school football products and their rises as recruits.

Coming out of Channelview (Texas) High, Hurts was originally seen as a project at the position before Nick Saban and Alabama took a chance on him. After playing a few years at Alabama, Hurts transferred to Oklahoma where he finished as an All-American before Philadelphia drafted him in the second round.

Mahomes rose to stardom at Whitehouse (Texas) High, but he was largely overlooked due to his talent in baseball. Mahomes only received offers from Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Rice because most schools assumed that he’d enter the MLB Draft and forego college.

Mahomes enrolled at Texas Tech, where he threw for 11,252 yards and 93 touchdowns over a three-year career. The Chiefs picked Mahomes with the 2017 NFL Draft’s No. 10 overall pick, and he’s delivered three Super Bowls as he looks towards a fourth Sunday.

Hurts is still looking to create his ultimate legacy, while Mahomes can continue to cement his as one of the greatest to ever play. Both players now look at home in a league where mobile quarterbacks with high-end traits are at a premium.

When they came out of high school, there were questions about them as prospects.

Mahomes and Hurts were both heavy on athletic traits, even if they didn’t ultimately have the polish other passers had in front of them.

Hurts was the No. 1 dual-threat in the 2016 class but ranked behind quarterbacks such as Shea Patterson, Jacob Eason, Feleipe Franks and Patrick O’Brien who had the polishes that colleges sought.

Mahomes was behind in-state passers like Jerrod Heard, Aaron Sharp and David Blough in the 2014 class.

247Sports national scouting analyst Gabe Brooks covered Mahomes extensively as a high school reporter in East Texas, and he covered Hurts early in his career at Scout.com.

Perhaps Hurts and Mahomes were ahead of their time for where the NFL would eventually go at the position, and that might have caused colleges to miss the mark with them.

Looking back, there were plenty of signs that both would be successful.