When it comes to producing players for the NFL, it’s not surprising that the top-performing colleges are the most prolific.
Where it gets more interesting is looking at how different schools excel at producing players at different positions.
Oklahoma has thrived with quarterbacks over the past decade thanks to Lincoln Riley’s tenure as an offensive coordinator and head coach there. Stanford and Iowa have had fierce debates about which school should get the moniker Tight End U.
Notre Dame punches above its weight at offensive line, while Ohio State and LSU vie for top billing at receiver.
There have been 2,565 players taken in the past 10 drafts, with 223 schools represented based on where players finished their college careers, according to Sportradar. Six of the top 10 schools have won a title from the 2015 to 2024 seasons. The top 10 schools combined for 35 playoff appearances in that span, with only Florida failing to make even one.
Alabama led the way with 95 players drafted, followed by Ohio State (85), Georgia (81), LSU (73) and Michigan (73). Florida, Penn State, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma rounded out the top 10.
Those same schools lead the way when it comes to first-rounders, with Alabama’s 32 players picked in the opening round from 2016-25 being the most out of the 74 schools with at least one first-round pick. Ohio State was next with 26, followed by Georgia with 21. The only other schools with at least 10 first-rounders in that span were LSU (15), Michigan (13), Clemson (13) and Florida (10).
Here’s a breakdown of which schools have done the best at producing NFL players at various positions based on the final college for each player:
Quarterbacks
Oklahoma has long been known for the wishbone offense and talented running backs like Billy Sims to Adrian Peterson to DeMarco Murray. But the Sooners have transformed into more of a passing team of late, a trend accelerated when Riley was hired as OC in 2015 and then served as head coach from 2017-21. Oklahoma had a five-year run featuring future No. 1 overall picks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, followed by a future Super Bowl winner in Jalen Hurts after he transferred from Alabama.
Those three have combined for 66,876 yards passing as pros — more than 27,000 more than any other school’s draftees from 2016-25 — 428 touchdown passes and 289 starts.
Hurts’ original school has also fared well with three first-rounders in Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young, who haven’t been able to equal the production of the Sooners QBs. Ohio State was the only other school with three first-round QBs in that span. C.J. Stroud has been the best of those but Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields provided far less production.
LSU has two stars with Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, along with other schools with impressive duos like Oregon (Justin Herbert and Bo Nix) and USC (Sam Darnold and Caleb Williams).
There is an outlier when it comes to the position with North Dakota State, which has been at the lower-level FCS, having three players drafted in this span, including top three picks Carson Wentz (2016) and Trey Lance (2021). The Bison rank in the top 12 in yards passing, TD passes and starts among players in the last 10 drafts.
Running backs
There’s no debate about which school is best when it comes to developing running backs. Led by Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama backs from the last 10 drafts have rushed for 37,997 yards and 335 touchdowns in the NFL. No other school is even close to that production. Georgia ranks second with 20,628 yards rushing and 144 TDs.
The Crimson Tide have such a deep group of NFL backs with five that have rushed for at least 3,500 yards as pros, with Najee Harris and Kenyan Drake also doing that. There are only 28 other players drafted in the last 10 years to do that, with Georgia the only other school with more than two in Nick Chubb, De’Andre Swift and James Cook III.
Wide receivers
The fiercest debate might be at wide receiver, where LSU produced two of the best in the game in Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase. Ohio State produced reigning AP Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and four other first-rounders since 2016 and Alabama leads the way with seven first-round picks.
When it comes to production, the Buckeyes take the top spot with 2,794 catches for 34,165 yards and 190 TDs from draftees from 2016-25, led by Smith-Njigba, Michael Thomas, Garret Wilson, Chris Olave and Terry McLaurin.
The Tigers are second in all three categories thanks to multiple time All-Pros Jefferson and Chase, as well as recent picks Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.
Alabama had back-to-back drafts with multiple first-rounders in 2020 (Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs) and 2021 (Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith) and ranks in the top four in all three categories.
The other big producer is USC with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Drake London and Jordan Addison leading the way.
Tight ends
Iowa has pulled ahead in the debate of which school deserves to be called Tight End U thanks to the production of players like George Kittle, Sam LaPorta and T.J. Hockenson.
That moniker has bounced around over the years. Miami held it in the early 2000s, thanks to players like Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen, and then Stanford took over with Notre Dame always near the top.
The Hawkeyes players have a healthy lead among 2016-25 draftees with 1,568 catches for 18,303 yards and 116 TDs. The Cardinal remain in second thanks in part to Austin Hooper and Dalton Schultz, although their most productive player, Zach Ertz, entered the league before this stretch in 2013.
The surprising entry at this position is South Dakota State, which ranks in the top seven across the board thanks to Dallas Goedert and Tucker Kraft.
Offensive line
When it comes to the trenches, Notre Dame joins the leaders, finishing neck and neck with Alabama in producing offensive linemen. The Crimson Tide have a narrow lead when it comes to most starts (669 to 645) and snaps, but the Fighting Irish come ahead with star power thanks to players like Quenton Nelson, Ronnie Stanley and Joe Alt.
The schools in the Midwest fare well when it comes to the line, with Ohio State and Michigan coming in third and fourth in playing time and Wisconsin not far behind at No. 7.
Defense
It’s a split decision when it comes to defense, with Ohio State leading the way with 380 1/2 sacks from players drafted from 2016-25, led by the Bosa brothers, LSU in the secondary with Derek Stingley Jr. and Tre’Davious White helping the Tigers record an NFL-high 100 INTs. Alabama ranks best overall with 146 takeaways, along with the most starts, snaps and tackles.
Georgia and Michigan both finished in the top six in sacks, takeaways and snaps.
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