With the NFL Draft less than a week away, I looked through a list of every active player in the NFL from 2021.
A player is considered active if they spent at least 1 week on a regular season or postseason roster or practice squad. Players who were on a 90-man preseason roster but were cut and never resigned didn’t make the list.
This list of all active NFL players eventually contained 2583 players.
Here’s what the general breakdown looked like:
| DIVISION | % | COUNT |
| D1-FBS | 87.73% | 2266 |
| D1-FCS | 8.05% | 208 |
| D2 | 2.83% | 73 |
| International Program | 0.39% | 10 |
| D3 | 0.39% | 10 |
| Canada | 0.39% | 10 |
| Basketball | 0.15% | 4 |
| NAIA | 0.08% | 2 |
| Grand Total | 100.00% | 2583 |
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of players came from the FCS. 87.73% to be exact.
A respectable 8% came from the FCS, with 3% from Division-II.
Interestingly, 4 players who never played college football (only basketball) are in the league, while only 2 NAIA players are in the NFL (Aldrick Rosas, Brandon Dillon).
Now let’s look at it by conference.
Which FBS Conference produces the most NFL players?
As you can see below, the SEC leads the way with 505 active NFL players.
The exact breakdown of D1-FBS players looks like this:
| CONFERENCE | COUNT |
| SEC | 505 |
| Big Ten | 381 |
| ACC | 307 |
| Pac-12 | 298 |
| Big 12 | 207 |
| AAC | 143 |
| C-USA | 113 |
| MWC | 103 |
| IND | 87 |
| MAC | 72 |
| SUN | 50 |
Which FCS Conference produces the most NFL players?
The Missouri Valley conference has the most active NFL players as of the 2021-2022 season, with 44.
Second is the Colonial Athletic Association (31), followed by the Big Sky (23).
The Missouri Valley conference is widely considered the top FCS conference, featuring powerhouses like North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, and other big names.
Which D2 Conference produces the most NFL players?
The GLIAC has the most active NFL players with 10, followed by the Mid-America conference with 9.
Which Schools Have the Most NFL Players?
Alabama leads the way with 72 active NFL players as of the 2021-2022 season. This makes up 2.79% of the NFL.
Second is Ohio State with 67, followed by LSU with 62.
Here’s a list of every school with at least 10 active NFL players:
| COLLEGE | COUNT | % |
| Alabama | 72 | 2.79% |
| Ohio State | 67 | 2.59% |
| LSU | 62 | 2.40% |
| Florida | 49 | 1.90% |
| Notre Dame | 47 | 1.82% |
| Georgia | 47 | 1.82% |
| Iowa | 44 | 1.70% |
| Washington | 43 | 1.66% |
| Michigan | 43 | 1.66% |
| Oklahoma | 42 | 1.63% |
| Miami | 39 | 1.51% |
| Clemson | 39 | 1.51% |
| Penn State | 38 | 1.47% |
| Florida State | 38 | 1.47% |
| Stanford | 37 | 1.43% |
| South Carolina | 36 | 1.39% |
| Texas | 34 | 1.32% |
| Auburn | 34 | 1.32% |
| UCLA | 33 | 1.28% |
| Texas A&M | 33 | 1.28% |
| Wisconsin | 31 | 1.20% |
| Tennessee | 31 | 1.20% |
| Oregon | 31 | 1.20% |
| USC | 30 | 1.16% |
| Utah | 29 | 1.12% |
| Mississippi State | 29 | 1.12% |
| Nebraska | 27 | 1.05% |
| Arkansas | 26 | 1.01% |
| Mississippi | 25 | 0.97% |
| Temple | 24 | 0.93% |
| Missouri | 24 | 0.93% |
| TCU | 23 | 0.89% |
| Pittsburgh | 23 | 0.89% |
| Virginia Tech | 22 | 0.85% |
| NC State | 22 | 0.85% |
| Michigan State | 22 | 0.85% |
| California | 22 | 0.85% |
| West Virginia | 21 | 0.81% |
| North Carolina | 21 | 0.81% |
| Central Florida | 21 | 0.81% |
| Oregon State | 20 | 0.77% |
| Oklahoma State | 20 | 0.77% |
| Kentucky | 20 | 0.77% |
| BYU | 20 | 0.77% |
| Virginia | 19 | 0.74% |
| Maryland | 19 | 0.74% |
| Colorado | 19 | 0.74% |
| Boise State | 19 | 0.74% |
| Texas Tech | 18 | 0.70% |
| Illinois | 18 | 0.70% |
| Houston | 18 | 0.70% |
| Cincinnati | 18 | 0.70% |
| Vanderbilt | 17 | 0.66% |
| Northwestern | 17 | 0.66% |
| Boston College | 17 | 0.66% |
| Baylor | 17 | 0.66% |
| Wyoming | 16 | 0.62% |
| SMU | 16 | 0.62% |
| Rutgers | 16 | 0.62% |
| Purdue | 16 | 0.62% |
| Duke | 16 | 0.62% |
| Florida Atlantic | 15 | 0.58% |
| Wake Forest | 14 | 0.54% |
| Memphis | 14 | 0.54% |
| Louisville | 14 | 0.54% |
| Kansas State | 14 | 0.54% |
| Arizona State | 14 | 0.54% |
| Tulane | 13 | 0.50% |
| Syracuse | 13 | 0.50% |
| Southern Miss | 13 | 0.50% |
| San Diego State | 13 | 0.50% |
| Utah State | 12 | 0.46% |
| Minnesota | 12 | 0.46% |
| Arizona | 12 | 0.46% |
| UL-Lafayette | 11 | 0.43% |
| Toledo | 11 | 0.43% |
| Louisiana Tech | 11 | 0.43% |
| Indiana | 11 | 0.43% |
| Buffalo | 11 | 0.43% |
| Western Michigan | 10 | 0.39% |
| Rice | 10 | 0.39% |
| North Dakota State | 10 | 0.39% |
| Iowa State | 10 | 0.39% |
| Georgia Tech | 10 | 0.39% |
| Central Michigan | 10 | 0.39% |
| Appalachian State | 10 | 0.39% |
Why This Matters
While most NFL talent comes from the FBS, there are more Division-III players in the NFL (10) than there are Washington State Cougars (8).
There are more FCS players (208) than there are Big 12 players (207), and more Division-II players (73) than there are MAC (72) or Sun Belt alum (50).
If you’re willing to accept that a legitimate draft prospect can be found at Washington State, you should be willing to accept that a legitimate prospect could be at a D3 school.
