Most NFL players by college

[Blair Sanderson]

NCAA.com has a nice interactive graph where you can look up each individual school or conference.

http://www.ncaa.com/ncaa-football-nfl

Here's the top 25:

1. LSU - 38
2. Miami - 37
3. Alabama - 35
4t. Georgia - 34
4t. USC 34
6. Florida State - 33
7. Florida - 31
8. Oklahoma - 30
9. Notre Dame - 29
10. Clemson - 28
11t. Oregon - 27
11t. Texas - 27
13t. Auburn - 26
13t. Cal - 26
13t. Ohio State - 26
13t. Tennessee - 26
17t. Penn State - 25
17t. Stanford - 25
19t. Iowa - 22
19t. Wisconsin - 22
21. Nebraska 21
22t. Michigan - 20
22t. Oregon State - 20
22t. Texas A&M - 20
25t. North Carolina - 19
25t. South Carolina - 19
25t. UCLA - 19

Also, of note:

Iowa State - 5
UNI - 3

http://www.ncaa.com/ncaa-football-nfl

 

[DutchyFunStar]

Always knew we were a top 25 team

 

[2000hawk]

Ohio St. 13. Would not have guessed that.

 

[QChawks]

Why doesn't that translate to more W's???

 

[SWIowahawks]

Why doesn't that translate to more W's???

I've asked the same question. I think it has to do with almost zero skill position players. 1 QB who happened to be Iowas QB during a darn good three year stretch.

 

[uniFIGHTuniFIGHT]

I've asked the same question. I think it has to do with almost zero skill position players. 1 QB who happened to be Iowas QB during a darn good three year stretch.

Probably not the best indicator. There are a lot of QBs who light it up in college and never whiff an NFL roster. Just not enough QB spots in the NFL. 2-3 on an active roster, 1 on the practice squad. More opportunity for receivers, running backs, defensive backs, and linebackers. We have not had many receivers get drafted. A few more running backs, but not the same success we've had with linebackers and defensive backs.

 

[like-woahh]

Why doesn't that translate to more W's???

Not exactly a profound thought, but it really has to do with the clustering of that NFL talent. Just going off the top of my head, my assumption is the majority of the players Iowa has sent to the NFL are at OL, DL, and TE.

Now, take a look at the 2009 roster. I forgot just how stacked that team was, and if Shonn Greene sticks around for another year - that's a national title contending team.

Micah Hyde (frosh, can't remember how much PT he got)
Amari Spievey
Shaun Prater
Adrian Clayborn
Christian Ballard
Mike Daniels
Karl Klug
Pat Angerer
A.J. Edds
Riley Reiff
Bryan Bulaga
Ricky Stanzi
Brandon Wegher
Tyler Sash
Tony Moeaki
Marvin McNutt
DJK

Out of all of those players I think DJK is the only one who didn't make an NFL roster, and I dare say, not due to lack of talent. I guess McNutt got cut by the Eagles and Wegher hasn't seen any real action yet.

Still pretty crazy to think 17 players on that team have either gotten serious playtime or at least a sniff at the NFL.

The 2009 roster is an obvious statistical outlier, but I think it kind of skews the overall statistic that Iowa is constantly pumping players in the NFL. There are a couple years here and there where the Hawks are absolutely loaded, and then the thin years in between.

 

[TS568]

Not exactly a profound thought, but it really has to do with the clustering of that NFL talent. Just going off the top of my head, my assumption is the majority of the players Iowa has sent to the NFL are at OL, DL, and TE.

Now, take a look at the 2009 roster. I forgot just how stacked that team was, and if Shonn Greene sticks around for another year - that's a national title contending team.

Micah Hyde (frosh, can't remember how much PT he got)
Amari Spievey
Shaun Prater
Adrian Clayborn
Christian Ballard
Mike Daniels
Karl Klug
Pat Angerer
A.J. Edds
Riley Reiff
Bryan Bulaga
Ricky Stanzi
Brandon Wegher
Tyler Sash
Tony Moeaki
Marvin McNutt
DJK

Out of all of those players I think DJK is the only one who didn't make an NFL roster, and I dare say, not due to lack of talent. I guess McNutt got cut by the Eagles and Wegher hasn't seen any real action yet.

Still pretty crazy to think 17 players on that team have either gotten serious playtime or at least a sniff at the NFL.

The 2009 roster is an obvious statistical outlier, but I think it kind of skews the overall statistic that Iowa is constantly pumping players in the NFL. There are a couple years here and there where the Hawks are absolutely loaded, and then the thin years in between.

You're dead on about the clustering of talent. 16 of the 22 players listed were OL, DL and TE. There were NO QB, WR , or RB. Iowa has a great reputation with linemen, the stereotype absolutely holds true in this case.

 

[bigfridaynite]

You're dead on about the clustering of talent. 16 of the 22 players listed were OL, DL and TE. There were NO QB, WR , or RB. Iowa has a great reputation with linemen, the stereotype absolutely holds true in this case.

i'm not sure how coaches like Richt,Stoops and even Les Miles keep there job.
The team from LSU that Iowa played in a bowl game was loaded with big time NFL players.

 

[bagdropper]

i'm not sure how coaches like Richt,Stoops and even Les Miles keep there job.
The team from LSU that Iowa played in a bowl game was loaded with big time NFL players.

The only thing I can think of is the "collective football and all-around intelligence" plays a big factor. The SEC's players may win the measurables across the board as a conference...but something is missing the measurables don't measure as it translates to the NFL. Like individual and/or collective intelligence. I'm not saying the players are stupid, I'm saying they must be less football and overall smart more than we would be led to believe.

And with Iowa "nuts and bolts" players, an NFL team can have a bit of an "expected reasonableness of output" because they're going to be smart, well versed in fundamentals...good football players before you even start talking about height/weight and 40 times.

I doubt you can truly take a modern NFL player nowadays and rely on solely that player's physical capabilities. RGIII was as physically gifted as any QB ever when he came out, and there's more where he came from...Vince Young, Michael Vick, Cam Newton et al. I wouldn't exactly think of any of them as "smart or fundamentally sound QB's".

I'm betting the rest of the positions, similar issues arise. Who cares how fast a LB is if he's always in the wrong place on every play.

There's a reason why Gus Malzohn and Art Briles teach a system in their programs whose playbooks are 10 plays long...it's stupid simple to learn and relies on athletic ability most of all. You don't necessarily need a team full of smart guys to win at the college level.