Colleges with most current players & starters on 2021 NFL rosters
Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News is--quietly, because Buffalo--one of the better football minds in the press box. The below is not representative of his football insights per se, but rather of his thoroughness.
He assesses the 32 rosters every year for colleges of record ($); I've tried to translate his article into handy table form. (Where starters are missing, it's because they were not included, not because I'm an idiot.)
- Alabama 54 (41 starters)
- Ohio 51 (26)
- LSU 47 (33)
- Georgia 36
- Clemson 34 (17)
- Iowa 34 (16)
- Michigan 34 (14)
- Florida 32
- Penn St 31
- Texas 30
- Oklahoma 29
- Miami & ND tied at 28
The one that makes you say "huh" the loudest is Iowa, no? We're tied for 5th with them but they have a couple more starters; that's what the 14 in parentheses means. It doesn't mean the number of Wolverines on the Patriots (ok, so it might be the same number but that'd just be coincidence).
September 15th, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
Sh, hide this from the 3 star mafia
September 15th, 2021 at 11:43 PM ^
Someone on TV brought this up the other day and it was pretty eye opening - Texas has only had 3 offensive lineman drafted since 07. To put that into perspective, Michigan has had 13 (7 since Harbaugh’s arrival.)
I imagine Michigan would have a similarly low level at some offensive skill positions, but that stat really blew my mind considering the type of recruiting ground Texas sits on.
September 16th, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
Texas wants to join the SEC so they can recruit better in their own state.
September 15th, 2021 at 11:45 PM ^
The top 5 are almost exactly what the recruiting rankings say they should be. If anything the Big Ten teams Iowa PSu and UM seem to be outperforming their recruiting. Well Iowa at least.
September 16th, 2021 at 8:01 AM ^
Penn State and Michigan are not.
I'm not quite sure what to think about Oklahoma. They seem to be playing to their recruiting ranking but not putting that talent into the League. Strange, except that Michigan is the opposite.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:38 AM ^
Michigan is historically a top 10 talented team in college football, we are absolutely not outperforming expectations based on recruiting rankings. Iowa is.
September 17th, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
If you average out our recruiting rankings the last decade I dont think youll come up with 7th. Maybe but weve had some less than stellar classes.
September 16th, 2021 at 12:50 AM ^
I was somewhat expecting to see Wisconsin down near the end. I guess if we were just counting linemen they'd be higher.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:09 AM ^
Agreed. I can name like 10 off of the top of my head…
Isaiahh Loudermilk
Chet Cheesechugger
Ryan Ramczyk
Curt Chiselhammer
Rachad Wildgoose
Brian Crushcorn
Beau Benzschawel
Morgan Bearwrastler
Sprinkle in 4 or 5 Watts and I don’t see how they aren’t in the top 10.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:20 AM ^
Highly underrated comment, I sure hope more people stop to take a look
September 16th, 2021 at 9:20 AM ^
Highly underrated comment, I sure hope more people stop to take a look
So good I had to double post
September 16th, 2021 at 10:04 AM ^
This is awesome!
September 16th, 2021 at 10:27 AM ^
no it's not i call BS
because Wildgoose is a corner not an o-lineman
September 16th, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
You might be thinking of his brother, Josh Wildgoose.
September 16th, 2021 at 12:51 AM ^
Iowa has and always will produce alot of big NFL body types.
September 16th, 2021 at 12:57 AM ^
We definitely have talented guys coming through the program, stars be damned. That said, though, we feel spiritually more like Iowa or Texas lately than the top 5 teams here, and it’s because we, like Iowa or Texas, haven’t maximized those guys potential while in college for various reasons and haven’t put enough of them together at a time to build a playoff team.
if there’s a hope left for the Harbaugh years, it’s that we finally have the recruiters and coaches who can both bring those guys in at an even higher level and get absolute the most out of them on the field. Early returns are good on the current staff but there’s a lot of football left to play.
September 16th, 2021 at 1:03 AM ^
Credit to Harbaugh for restoring Michigan as an NFL pipeline. We all want more success on the field but that absolutely had to be done.
Would easily be 4th if not for the RichRod/Hoke eras.
September 16th, 2021 at 2:38 AM ^
Yes, Iowa really stands out in that list. They're never anywhere near #6 in the recruiting rankings, so they're doing a good job identifying and developing talent.
September 16th, 2021 at 4:03 AM ^
Without any research on my part. I would have thought Wisconsin would have more than Iowa… and Iowa not be that high on this list. Cool stat though.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:05 AM ^
I'm sure the BPONE crowd will use this data as evidence that the team has underperformed relative to the talent of its players.
While this is true to some degree, the problem has been the lack of playmakers at key offensive positions.
I'd guess that the 34 players are heavily weighted to OL and defense.
September 16th, 2021 at 8:52 AM ^
Yeah, you will know that we have been back, when NFL rosters are full of Michigan quarterbacks and running backs.
September 16th, 2021 at 10:59 AM ^
I was just talking to a buddy about this today. In 2000, counting Scott Dreisbach who was on the Raiders roster but never played while recovering from a broken leg, there were 6 Michigan QBs on NFL rosters. Harbaugh was in his last season while Brady was in his first. Grbac, Collins and Griese also suited up that year. In 1999, 2001 and 2008 there were 5 Michigan QBs on NFL rosters. From 1998 to 2008, there were an average of 4 Michigan QBs on NFL rosters every year. Now we get excited when Rudock gets signed to the practice squad.
Michigan was QBU for a while there.
BTW - this doesn't count Matt Guttierez who started but didn't finish his career at Michigan and did play a few seasons in the NFL.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:14 AM ^
Obligatory post about super bowl rings: (read Tom Brady)
How many NFL championships do Michigan wolverines have? Versus everybody else?
September 16th, 2021 at 7:21 AM ^
34 is an impressive number, considering how few QB’s, RB’s and WR’s are on rosters.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:28 AM ^
Interesting that not only does Alabama have the most, but that the overwhelming number of them are starters. LSU has a high percentage of its guys starters also.
September 16th, 2021 at 8:05 AM ^
Saban not only gets the top talent but also keeps them ascending.
September 18th, 2021 at 8:35 AM ^
And Bama pays well…
September 16th, 2021 at 7:37 AM ^
Without looking, I’m guessing Iowa’s NFL players are heavily weighted toward linemen (both O and D) and TEs. Haven’t they had something like 5 TEs drafted in a row?
September 16th, 2021 at 7:46 AM ^
How many from Iowa are o-lineman, TE, and FB? Impressive for them nonetheless based on recruiting rankings...very good talent identification and development.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:53 AM ^
Michigan’s higher on the list than I expected but, thinking about it, being in a tie for 5th makes sense.
With all the anguish of being a Michigan fan, the football program doesn’t feel “successful” because of expectations and comparisons. And tough losses. Since graduating, I’ve sat through a Rose Bowl loss and the Horror, where it felt as if every other program was flying into a bright sky, and Michigan was stuck in mire.
However, Michigan has continued to do well at recruiting, at winning, and at developing players. Not enough to brag about, like teams we envy / bitch about. But well enough to find pride.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:54 AM ^
Hmm. Iowa is impressive. Does not really surprise me. Ferentz runs way under the radar as a top coach. He teaches his players to play very smart, fundamentally sound football.
September 16th, 2021 at 7:56 AM ^
Iowa's recruiting rankings for the last ten years according to 247:
2012: 40
2013: 56
2014: 58
2015: 59
2016: 47
2017: 41
2018: 39
2019: 41
2020: 35
2021: 24
September 16th, 2021 at 8:30 AM ^
FIRE BAKICH!
September 16th, 2021 at 8:34 AM ^
Iowa is winning at over a 70% clip over the last six years and the players they tend to produce (offensive and defensive linemen) have the longest NFL lifespans on average. Not totally surprising.
September 16th, 2021 at 8:48 AM ^
All we do is send players to Sunday.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
Ferentz is underrated by way to many people.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
That list shows that talent matters. This could easily be a top recruiting rankings list. Not only that but off hand I believe 7 of these 13 teams have been to the championship game since the start of the 4 team playoff. Other than Michigan, PSU and Iowa I think every team on this list has been in a National Championship in the past 20 years, go back 25 and Michigan can be included.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:12 AM ^
Thanks to Tom Brady for keeping our numbers up
September 16th, 2021 at 9:14 AM ^
Does the Michigan contingent include Jarrod Wilson who was added to the New York Jets active roster the day before that report was published?
Also, Ben Bredeson might get the start st left guard tonight for the Giants against Washington.
Here's a LINK to the list of Michigan players now on NFL rosters. (Note that former Michigan defensive back Brandon Watson has changed his name to Brandon Rusnak.)
September 16th, 2021 at 9:33 AM ^
The craziest stat to me is that Clemson and Michigan have the same number of players on NFL rosters.
September 16th, 2021 at 9:42 AM ^
It probably won't be true for long, up until about 2015 Michigan pretty consistently out recruited Clemson overall. The biggest difference was that Clemson was getting a few elite playmakers top 10 guys, and they got deshaun watson who elevated the program.
September 16th, 2021 at 10:17 AM ^
Makes sense re: Iowa. Iowa has historically produced a lot of great NFL offensive linemen, and then two of their former tight ends (Kittle and Hockensen) are among the best in the league at what they do. Not sure how well they do as far as the rest of the skill positions, but Ferentz knows how to put players into the league.
September 16th, 2021 at 10:43 AM ^
What a huge outlier iowa is based on recruiting. You can’t say ferentz doesn’t develop his players. Now compare this list with records and see the underachievers.
September 16th, 2021 at 8:31 PM ^
Not that I am willing to do the math or even am asking anyone else for that ...
While starters and roster spots are an interesting metric, I would lean towards # of snaps played to get a better idea of impact.