What School Is NFL U.?
Steve Helwagen • 33 hours ago •
Welcome to the eighth and final installment in our series to determine which schools have done the best job in recent years of producing top NFL draft picks.
The top draft-producing teams of the last 15 years include USC (repped by Mark Sanchez), Georgia (repped by Matthew Stafford) and Miami (repped by Andre Johnson)
For our analyses, we looked at players drafted in the top three rounds in each of the last 15 years of the NFL draft.
You can check out the links below for our look at the schools which have done the best job of producing quarterbacks, defensive linemen, wide receivers, defensive backs, offensive linemen, linebackers and running backs. At the bottom of this story, we also share the top schools for producing tight ends in the last 15 years.
Today, we tie the series up and look at 15 schools that have done a good job of producing top talent for the NFL draft over the last 15 years.
That’s not all. We look at which schools have had the most first-round picks since 1998, which schools have had the most first-round picks all-time and we share which schools have had the most players taken No. 1 overall since the inception of the draft.
NFL U. Ratings
We have taken the eight position analysis pieces we published (linked below) and assigned voting points to the top 15 schools in each analysis.
The result is this ranking of the top 15 schools to produce NFL draft talent over the last 15 years. Miami (Fla.), which was first in four of these analyses, easily took the top spot. Here is the list:
1. Miami (Fla.)
Voting Points: 85.5. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 28. Top Draftee Since 1998: WR Andre Johnson, third overall pick in 2003. Position Analysis Rankings: First in linebackers, defensive backs and tight ends, tied for first in running backs, fifth in wide receivers, sixth in defensive linemen and 11th in offensive linemen.
2. Southern California
Voting Points: 70.75. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 19. Top Draftee Since 1998: QB Carson Palmer, first overall pick in 2013. Position Analysis Rankings: First in quarterbacks, second in offensive linemen, fourth in linebackers, sixth in wide receivers, tied for seventh in defensive backs and defensive linemen, tied for 11th in tight ends and tied for 14th in running backs. (USC is the only school mentioned in all eight position analyses.)
3. Georgia
Voting Points: 56.5. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 14. Top Draftee Since 1998: QB Matthew Stafford, first overall pick in 2009. Position Analysis Rankings: Third in linebackers, fourth in quarterbacks, tied for fourth in tight ends, tied for ninth in running backs, offensive linemen and wide receivers and 11th in defensive linemen.
4. Florida
Voting Points: 55. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 17. Top Draftee Since 1998: DT Gerard Warren, third overall pick in 2001. Position Analysis Rankings: First in wide receivers, third in offensive linemen, tied for eighth in linebackers, tied for ninth in quarterbacks and defensive backs, 10th in defensive linemen and tied for 11th in tight ends.
5. Tennessee
Voting Points: 50. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 17. Top Draftee Since 1998: QB Peyton Manning, first overall pick in 1998. Position Analysis Rankings: Second in linebackers, fifth in defensive linemen, tied for fifth in running backs, eighth in wide receivers, tied for ninth in defensive backs and tied for 11th in tight ends.
6. Florida State
Voting Points: 49.33. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 17. Top Draftee Since 1998: DE Andre Wadsworth, third overall pick in 1998. Position Analysis Rankings: First in defensive linemen, third in wide receivers, fifth in defensive backs, sixth in linebackers and tied for 15th in offensive linemen.
7. Oklahoma
Voting Points: 47.75. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 12. Top Draftee Since 1998: QB Sam Bradford, first overall pick in 2010. Position Analysis Rankings: Tied for fourth in offensive linemen and tight ends, sixth in defensive backs, seventh in wide receivers, tied for eighth in linebackers and tied for 14th in running backs.
8. LSU
Voting Points: 42. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 14. Top Draftee Since 1998: QB JaMarcus Russell, first overall pick in 2007. Position Analysis Rankings: Second in wide receivers, third in defensive linemen, tied for fifth in running backs and tied for ninth in defensive backs.
9. Ohio State
Voting Points: 41.75. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 20. Top Draftee Since 1998: LB A.J. Hawk, fifth overall pick in 2006. Position Analysis Rankings: Second in defensive backs, fourth in wide receivers, fifth in linebackers, 12th in defensive linemen and tied for 14th in running backs.
10. Alabama
Voting Points: 41.5. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 14. Top Draftees Since 1998: RB Trent Richardson (2012), DT Marcell Dareus (2011) and OT Chris Samuels (2000), each taken third overall in those years. Position Analysis Rankings: Third in running backs, fourth in defensive backs, tied for sixth in offensive linemen, 10th in linebackers and 15th in defensive linemen.
11. Texas
Voting Points: 37.33. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 15. Top Draftee Since 1998: OL Leonard Davis, second overall pick in 2001. Position Analysis Rankings: Third in defensive backs, sixth in quarterbacks, ninth in defensive linemen, tied for ninth in running backs, tied for 11th in tight ends and tied for 15th in offensive linemen.
12. (tie) Auburn
Voting Points: 28. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 10. Top Draftee Since 1998: QB Cam Newton, first overall pick in 2011. Position Analysis Rankings: Eighth in quarterbacks, tied for 11th in running backs, tied for 13th in offensive linemen and 14th in linebackers.
12. (tie) Michigan
Voting Points: 28. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 10. Top Draftee Since 1998: OL Jake Long, first overall pick in 2008. Position Analysis Rankings: Tied for fifth in running backs, eighth in offensive linemen, tied for ninth in wide receivers, 13th in linebackers and tied for 14th in quarterbacks.
14. Wisconsin
Voting Points: 27.5. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 13. Top Draftee Since 1998: OL Joe Thomas, third overall pick in 2007. Position Analysis Rankings: First in offensive linemen, tied for ninth in running backs, tied for 11th in tight ends, tied for 12th in wide receivers and 14th in defensive linemen.
15. Penn State
Voting Points: 25. First-Round Picks Since 1998: 11. Top Draftee Since 1998: DE Courtney Brown, first overall pick in 2000. Position Analysis Rankings: Fourth in defensive linemen, tied for ninth in running backs, tied for 11th in linebackers and tied for 12th in wide receivers.
Honorable Mention
Here were the next 10 top schools in the final analysis: 16. Oregon, 23 voting points; 17. California, 20.5; 18. Washington, 20; 19. Iowa, 18.5; 20. Stanford, 17.5; 21. Notre Dame, 16.83; 22. North Carolina, 16; 23. Arizona State, 14.5; 24. (tie) Tulane, Virginia Tech, 13.5.
First-Round Picks: Since 1998
We put the focus on this series on how teams produced talent over the last 15 years. Here is a look at the schools that have produced the most first-round picks in the last 15 NFL drafts (since 199
:
1. Miami (Fla.), 28
2. Ohio State, 20
3. Southern California, 19
4. (tie) Florida, 17
4. (tie) Tennessee, 17
4. (tie) Florida State, 17
7. Texas, 15
8. (tie) Alabama, 14
8. (tie) Georgia, 14
8. (tie) LSU, 14
11. Wisconsin, 13
12. Oklahoma, 12
13. Penn State, 11
14. (tie) Boston College, 10
14. (tie) Michigan, 10
14. (tie) California 10
14. (tie) Auburn 10
Also Notable: Over the last 15 years, the 14 current SEC teams have combined to produce 121 first-round picks – more than any other conference. Looking at the conferences by where teams played in 2012, here were the first-round picks produced by other BCS conferences: ACC, 98; Big Ten, 84; Pac-12, 63; Big 12, 49
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