NFL Players By College - What College Has The Most NFL Players?

We gathered data on every player to ever appear on an active NFL roster and determined the most NFL players by college.

Did you know that 25,000+ players have played in an NFL game?

Here are the 2023 most NFL players by college as of NFL Week One 53-man rosters. For the seventh season in a row, the University of Alabama has the most players in the league.

NFL Players By College – 2023

SCHOOL	PLAYERS
Alabama	57
Ohio State	47
Georgia	46
LSU	43
Michigan	38
Notre Dame	39
Clemson	37
Florida	34
Penn State	33
Oklahoma	32
Texas	30
Iowa	29
Auburn	28
USC	26
Oregon	25
Stanford	25
Washington	25
Mississippi	24
Texas A&M	23
Wisconsin	23
Miami The U	22
UCLA	22
Tennessee	21
TCU	21

NFL Players By College – 2022 (As of NFL Week 1)

For the sixth consecutive season, Alabama had the most or tied for the most players (58) on active NFL Kickoff Weekend roster. The Crimson Tide also placed the most active NFL players on season-opening rosters in 2018 (44), 2019 (56), 2020 (53) and 2021 (54), and shared the league lead in 2017 (39).

SCHOOL	PLAYERS
Alabama	58
LSU	52
Ohio State	52
Georgia	44
Notre Dame	37
Penn State	35
Florida	33
Michigan	33
Oklahoma	32
Iowa	31
Clemson	29
Texas	26
Washington	26
Wisconsin	26
Auburn	24
Miami The U	24
UCLA	24
South Carolina	23
Stanford	23
Tennessee	23
Texas A&M	23

NFL Players By College – 2021

FBS SCHOOL	PLAYERS
Alabama	53
Ohio State	47
LSU	43
Georgia	35
Notre Dame	34
Clemson	33
Iowa	33
Florida	32
Michigan	32
Oklahoma	31
Penn State	31
Texas	26
Miami (Fla.)	25
UCLA	24
Washington	24
Florida State	23
Texas A&M	23
USC	23
Stanford	22
South Carolina	21
Wisconsin	21
Auburn	20
Mississippi State	19
Oregon	19
NC State	18
Temple	18
Utah	18
Missouri	17
Nebraska	17
Tennessee	17
Pittsburgh	16
Virginia Tech	16
Arkansas	15
Boston College	15
Oklahoma State	15
Kentucky	14
TCU	14
Baylor	13
North Carolina	13
Ole Miss	12
Rutgers	12
Texas Tech	12
California	11
Colorado	11
Duke	11
Houston	11
Illinois	11
Maryland	11
Memphis	11
Oregon State	11
Purdue	11
Vanderbilt	11
West Virginia	11
Boise State	10
Louisville	10
Michigan State	10
Minnesota	10
UCF	10
Virginia	10
Kansas State	9
SMU	9
Western Michigan	9
Arizona State	8
BYU	8
Cincinnati	8
Indiana	8
Northwestern	8
Utah State	8
Arizona	7
Central Michigan	7
Florida Atlantic	7
Fresno State	7
Louisiana Tech	7
Syracuse	7
Toledo	7
Wyoming	7
Appalachian State	6
Colorado State	6
Georgia Southern	6
Georgia Tech	6
Old Dominion	6
San Jose State	6
Tulane	6
Connecticut	5
Marshall	5
San Diego State	5
South Florida	5
Southern Mississippi	5
Wake Forest	5
Washington State	5
Western Kentucky	5
Buffalo	4
Kansas	4
Northern Illinois	4
Rice	4
East Carolina	3
Eastern Michigan	3
Iowa State	3
Massachusetts	3
Miami (Ohio)	3
Middle Tennessee State	3
Nevada	3
North Texas	3
UTEP	3
Arkansas State	2
Army	2
Ball State	2
Florida International	2
Georgia State	2
Louisiana	2
Ohio	2
Troy	2
Tulsa	2
UAB	2
Akron	1
Bowling Green	1
Coastal Carolina	1
Hawaii	1
Kent State	1
Navy	1
New Mexico	1
South Alabama	1
Texas State	1
UNLV	1
UTSA	1

For 2020 updated as of Week One and based on the 53-man roster, here are the top 10 colleges that have produced the most NFL players:

Alabama	56
Ohio State	50
LSU	41
Florida	39
Georgia	32
Penn State	32
Oklahoma	29
Clemson	29
Notre Dame	29
Iowa, Florida State, Washington	28
Stanford, Texas A&M	27

This study includes data points and insights for every franchise, as well as the league as a whole. Here are some takeaways:

– Notre Dame has produced more NFL players than any other college, with 520 athletes going on to play in the NFL.

– Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State, and Oklahoma are the schools with the most NFL players in history and the only colleges who have produced 400+ NFL players.

– Alabama lead 2019 rosters with 56 players. As for end of season 2018 rosters, Alabama also led the way with 53 players making it to the NFL.

– In terms of players by decade, the NFL relied heavily on schools from the Midwest such as Notre Dame and Minnesota in the 50s and 60s. The focus shifted west to USC in the 70s and 80s before settling into a varied approach that has seen schools from the Midwest, California, and the Southeast regularly headlining NFL rosters over the last 30 years.

NFL Players By College – Overall Top 10 All-Time

(As of 8/22/23)
1. Notre Dame – 520
2. USC – 516
3. Ohio State – 473
4. Oklahoma – 402
5. Michigan – 387
6. Alabama – 384
7. Penn State – 367
8. Florida – 364
9. Nebraska – 363
10. LSU – 359

What College Has The Most NFL Players – 2019

Alabama – 53
LSU – 51
Ohio State – 46
USC – 44
Miami – 43
Florida – 43
Florida State – 42
Clemson – 37
Tied – Penn State, Oklahoma, Auburn – 33

Finally, GCU broke out every player by position and school to find which schools have produced the most players at specific positions for every NFL team.

Using traditional offensive and defensive formations as the guide, they were able to create a unique starting lineup of college football teams, using their logos as stand-ins.

Here is another area where Notre Dame’s influence is readily apparent, as they are the top school at seven of the 24 positions evaluated, including key positions such as quarterback and running back.

NFL Players By College – What College Has The Most NFL Players?