Jrue Holiday was an All-Star in 2013 (hs last in Philadelphia), and it took another ten, which coincidentally was his last in Milwaukee, to earn a second ttip.  In between, Holiday joined a special group that won an NBA Championship (with Milwaukee) and an Olympic Gold Medal (with the United States) in the same year .  Holiday was and will never be a superstar, but he fills his role well, and will do so this year on a powerful Boston squad that is going for it all.  His only path to Springfield is titles, and he needs one this year wearing the Celtics shade of green.  Pre-2021-22 Rank: #47, Pre-2023-23 Rank: #43

A former MAC Defensive Player of the Year as a Defensive Lineman at Kent State, Roosevelt Nix converted to Fullback in hopes for a chance in the National Football League.  It worked, but it took a while.

Nix was not invited to the Combine, but was invited to the Atlanta Falcons in 2014 after going undrafted.  He didn’t make the team, but the Steelers gave him a look the following year, and Nix would have a five-year career in Pittsburgh, where he played 60 Games, and was a pure Fullback, one of the few in the NFL.  

Nix will never be considered for the Hall of Fame, but the fact that he made it to the NFL for five years based on revising his skillset is worth celebrating.

Demaryius Thomas was a 2010 1^st Round Pick who struggled as a rookie and in his second pro season due to injuries, but he was healthy in his third year where he showed off over the next five years what was expected of him.  Thomas went to the Pro Bowl in 2012 with a 1,434 Years and 10 Touchdown season, and in 2013 he had similar yardage (1,430) with a career-high 14 Touchdowns.  It was another Pro Bowl year, and he would set a then record 13 Receptions in their Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks.  

2014 would see him go to his third Pro Bowl with career highs of 111 Receptions and 1,619 Receiving Yards, but it was 2015, a season where he was not chosen for the Pro Bowl (but still hit 1,304 Receiving Yards) where he won the Super Bowl.  Thomas had his last Pro Bowl in 2016 with his final four digit Receiving Yard campaign.  Before he was traded to the Houston Texans midway through the 2018 season, he finished his career at Mile High with 9,055 Yards for 60 TDs.

Luka Doncic was already a top five NBA player when he willed the Dallas Mavericks to a Western Conference FInal in 2021, and he is on a four-year streak of All-Star and First Team All-Pros.  There are two things left for Doncic to do; win an MVP and win an NBA Championship.  He won't win the Title on this year's Dallas team, but an MVP is in the card for the under-30 Slovenian.  His best is still ahead of him.  2021-22 Pre-Season Rank: #42, 2021-22 Pre-Season Rank: #27