Ranking College Football Programs with Most NFL Draft Picks All Time

Talent is the lifeblood of any college football program and the ability to recruit the best players, develop their potential, and ship them off to the NFL Draft has long been a big way we judge the health of any football program over time.

And, as is usually the case, that talent tends to consolidate into the hands of a very lucky few. Which schools have done the best job of turning out pro football talent, and what teams have done the best in more recent years?

College football programs with most NFL Draft picks all-time

10. Texas

College football teams with most NFL Draft picks, ranked — Imagn Images

NFL Draft picks: 380

Always on a shortlist of college football’s most consequential programs, the Longhorns’ recent revival under head coach Steve Sarkisian has turned out serious NFL Draft dividends, breaking a school record with 12 picks last spring and an NCAA-best 23 picks the last two years with 10 first- and second-round selections in that time.

T-10. Florida

NFL Draft picks: 380

Florida produced a pair of top-five picks in the last few years, including Kyle Pitts, who went to Atlanta with the No. 4 in the 2021 draft. Dante Fowler was the third-overall selection to Jacksonville in 2015, and the Gators had eight total draft picks in 2021, their most in six years, and they were third in the SEC with six picks in 2023.

9. LSU

NFL Draft picks: 388

Still one of the top college football factories come draft time, LSU placed second overall with 10 selections in 2022, behind only Georgia, and had 161 players taken in the NFL Draft since the start of the century, the fourth most nationally.

8. Georgia

NFL Draft picks: 392

The presence of head coach Kirby Smart has supercharged Georgia’s footprint on the NFL Draft since his arrival in 2016, resulting in 76 selections in that time with 23 of them going in the first round, and as national champs in 2022 established an NFL record with 15 total picks taken.

7. Penn State

NFL Draft picks: 394

James Franklin arguably made Penn State into DBU in recent years, with 16 defensive backs taken during his run, and the Nittany Lions’ best turnout as a program in the modern era was 2024, with eight players selected, including first-rounders like tackle Olu Fashanu and linebacker Chop Robinson.

6. Alabama

NFL Draft picks: 418

No other college football program has produced NFL Draft talent like Alabama in recent years thanks to the unprecedented success of Nick Saban, and the school has 51 first round selections this century with a streak of nine straight drafts with multiple opening round picks.

5. Oklahoma

NFL Draft picks: 419

Six former Sooners have been taken at No. 1 overall, including three quarterbacks since 2010 (Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, and Kyler Murray), ranking second all time in college football history, and Oklahoma is top-10 among college football programs with 51 first-round picks all-time.

4. Michigan

NFL Draft picks: 422

Seven-time Super Bowl champion — and greatest player in NFL history — Tom Brady highlights Michigan's all-time NFL Draft class since being taken in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, and the school produced 13 NFL Draft selections in 2024, the most of any college football program that year and a school record.

3. Ohio State

NFL Draft picks: 503

One of the college football programs that has consistently turned out NFL Draft talent for decades, the Buckeyes have produced first-rounders in every event since 2015, and in 2025 became just the third school to have at least 500 prospects drafted.

Ohio State also ranks first all-time with 95 total first-round draft selections, including one in each of the last 10 drafts, and its 181 players taken since 2000 are also the most of any program.

2. USC

NFL Draft picks: 533

One of two programs to turn out more than 500 draft picks all-time, USC is also second with 86 first-round selections, and has produced five No. 1 overall picks.

Carson Palmer, O.J. Simpson, Keyshawn Johnson, Rickey Bell, Ron Yary, and most recently Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams hold the distinction of going No. 1 overall out of Troy.

1. Notre Dame

NFL Draft picks: 538

Notre Dame has built a football pedigree over generations that still leads the pack in producing NFL talent, increasing that total by six last spring, and is fourth all time with 71 first round NFL Draft selections, most recently Joe Alt, the offensive tackle who went No. 5 overall to the Chargers.

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