So I made an incredibly silly and long list of NFL players by colleges that maybe only Viv will read
Posted by JacobRDaugherty on October 29, 2025, 9:32:32
And that is a hard maybe that anyone will read this
I went and did this crazy task to make myself feel better about Illinois football and built out rosters based on players getting paid in the NFL then I got carried away. This is the list of players, either on rosters, pup list or on practice squads from around the league from ourlads. After I went looking, I realized I could have differentiated between active roster, starting, depth and practice squad but I was already deep and not modifying for all the squads. I wanted to see which colleges could produce a real NFL team from players getting paid. To make the list, the college had to produce a player from every position group on a roster, QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, CB, and S. Ourlads listed Free Agents didn't get counted unless by mistake. I also thought of real formations. The college had to produce 5OL, 5 total skill positions players, could by any combo as long as they had 5 players while still having each position represented. Needed at least 2DL and 5 total front seven players. Needed at least 4 total CBs and Safeties and 11 total defensive players. I wanted to see which programs were recruiting and developing whole rosters that the NFL felt worthy to employ. That idea was very Ranger inspired. Total Players are in parentheses behind the list of players by position
These are the 15 programs that could produce a real lineup to throw out there. The Beloved are one of them which makes me feel better. 13 of the 15 programs are SEC and B1G programs. 7 from the B1G, 6 from the SEC. One is Notre Dame. The only ACC or Big 12 program that had a complete lineup is surprisingly Virginia Tech. Iowa makes it even though their QB is on a Practice Squad for this exercise. Surprisingly, no schools based in Florida or California made the list. Even though many were close. I will cover below
My ranking of the actual strength of the rosters taking into account Practice Squad players. Ohio State was a clear No.1. Bama, LSU and Georgia in any order. Michigan and Notre Dame can flip around. I thought Michigan was a little better. Oregon, Texas and Penn State are eye of the beholder. Oklahoma and Washington could switch. On down was pretty clear in their spot on the list
Below is a list of programs that is one position group short. The most common group to miss is offensive line. I would feel worse if NCSt didnt produce 8 players and UConn produced 5 themselves.
The 2 closest of the just missed were USC and Florida. USC needs to produce a TE and Florida a Safety. If I wasn't beholden to my idea, I could but USC above. They have enough WRs to run 10 personal and Lineman for the goal line. Florida only has 4 CBs, feel comfortable leaving them off. UCLA and A&M were QBs away. Pitt fell to be idea that you need 5 front players and at least 2 DLineman. Tennessee and South Carolina were each one OL from making it. South Carolina would have a fun roster if the had one more. Missouri was a safety away from having a very weak roster. TCU is any player on Defense from giving them 11 defensive players on rosters
This group really shows the dominance of the SEC recruiting though. 7 of the 16 programs close to completing a roster are SEC, only 3 are B1G. 4 are ACC, 2 are Big XII. The program that shocked me to not make in here was Florida St.
Here is the list of the remaining P5 programs. Arizona St and Vanderbilt are the weakest 2 by far with only 8 players collecting NFL paychecks. FSU is the strongest by far. FSU, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Maryland all could field a defense but missing offensive talent. Louisville would be a great combo with Illinois
Because Vanderbilt and Arizona St were the lowest two programs with 8 players on roster, I decided to make 8 players my cutoff for programs with substantial players in the league from the non power conference level. Sad face that Oregon St and Wash St were the top 2 non power conference teams. Memphis producing 5Rbs, Boise St with 4RBs were eye opening. Western Michigan and UConn producing 5OL each clarified my opinions above on teams needing to produce 5OL.
I don't know what to do with it, but wanted to acknowledge the insane amount of work it must have involved
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And that is a hard maybe that anyone will read this
I went and did this crazy task to make myself feel better about Illinois football and built out rosters based on players getting paid in the NFL then I got carried away. This is the list of players, either on rosters, pup list or on practice squads from around the league from ourlads. After I went looking, I realized I could have differentiated between active roster, starting, depth and practice squad but I was already deep and not modifying for all the squads. I wanted to see which colleges could produce a real NFL team from players getting paid. To make the list, the college had to produce a player from every position group on a roster, QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, CB, and S. Ourlads listed Free Agents didn't get counted unless by mistake. I also thought of real formations. The college had to produce 5OL, 5 total skill positions players, could by any combo as long as they had 5 players while still having each position represented. Needed at least 2DL and 5 total front seven players. Needed at least 4 total CBs and Safeties and 11 total defensive players. I wanted to see which programs were recruiting and developing whole rosters that the NFL felt worthy to employ. That idea was very Ranger inspired. Total Players are in parentheses behind the list of players by position
These are the 15 programs that could produce a real lineup to throw out there. The Beloved are one of them which makes me feel better. 13 of the 15 programs are SEC and B1G programs. 7 from the B1G, 6 from the SEC. One is Notre Dame. The only ACC or Big 12 program that had a complete lineup is surprisingly Virginia Tech. Iowa makes it even though their QB is on a Practice Squad for this exercise. Surprisingly, no schools based in Florida or California made the list. Even though many were close. I will cover below
My ranking of the actual strength of the rosters taking into account Practice Squad players. Ohio State was a clear No.1. Bama, LSU and Georgia in any order. Michigan and Notre Dame can flip around. I thought Michigan was a little better. Oregon, Texas and Penn State are eye of the beholder. Oklahoma and Washington could switch. On down was pretty clear in their spot on the list
Below is a list of programs that is one position group short. The most common group to miss is offensive line. I would feel worse if NCSt didnt produce 8 players and UConn produced 5 themselves.
The 2 closest of the just missed were USC and Florida. USC needs to produce a TE and Florida a Safety. If I wasn't beholden to my idea, I could but USC above. They have enough WRs to run 10 personal and Lineman for the goal line. Florida only has 4 CBs, feel comfortable leaving them off. UCLA and A&M were QBs away. Pitt fell to be idea that you need 5 front players and at least 2 DLineman. Tennessee and South Carolina were each one OL from making it. South Carolina would have a fun roster if the had one more. Missouri was a safety away from having a very weak roster. TCU is any player on Defense from giving them 11 defensive players on rosters
This group really shows the dominance of the SEC recruiting though. 7 of the 16 programs close to completing a roster are SEC, only 3 are B1G. 4 are ACC, 2 are Big XII. The program that shocked me to not make in here was Florida St.
Here is the list of the remaining P5 programs. Arizona St and Vanderbilt are the weakest 2 by far with only 8 players collecting NFL paychecks. FSU is the strongest by far. FSU, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Maryland all could field a defense but missing offensive talent. Louisville would be a great combo with Illinois
Because Vanderbilt and Arizona St were the lowest two programs with 8 players on roster, I decided to make 8 players my cutoff for programs with substantial players in the league from the non power conference level. Sad face that Oregon St and Wash St were the top 2 non power conference teams. Memphis producing 5Rbs, Boise St with 4RBs were eye opening. Western Michigan and UConn producing 5OL each clarified my opinions above on teams needing to produce 5OL.
on October 29, 2025, 9:32:32
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