Building The Roster: States that produce most, least NFL players
Over the last two weeks, Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney have broken down each NFL roster by star ranking. Today, they will start a breakdown of all the states that have produced the most NFL players except for the top three states – the usual big three – which will be released Tuesday.
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OVERVIEW
After the big three of Florida, Texas and California, Georgia has clearly positioned itself as a talent center nationally and by far leads the way among the other states with 102 players who played their high school ball there before going to the NFL. That has to be a huge recruiting advantage for especially Georgia but also Clemson, which recruits that state well, along with many other programs with strong ties to the Peach State.
After Georgia the drop-off is significant. Ohio has 71 players in the league followed by Alabama with 61, Virginia with 58 (and that so many played at prep school in that state helps) and North Carolina with 54. That’s one more than Louisiana and three more than Pennsylvania. A surprise in this research is that Illinois has 50 players in the NFL. That seemed like a lot for a state that isn’t necessarily considered stocked with pro talent.
One final interesting stat: There were more players (18) born outside the United States that are playing in the league than were born in 24 states. That proves that teams will go anywhere in the world for talent if they believe it will help their franchise.
FARRELL'S TAKE
"We all knew Georgia was on the come up when it comes to producing elite college talent and the NFL numbers bear that out as well. The Peach State has been the fastest rising state for talent next to the big three for the past decade and it all started, at least in my opinion, with that Robert Nkemdiche, Carl Lawson class in 2013.
"Alabama started to see a rise in talent right around the time Nick Saban took over for the Crimson Tide but that’s merely a coincidence. Virginia and North Carolina have moved from basketball states to great football states over the last 15 or so years while Louisiana is a bit down despite some big-name players.
"Ohio is still way up there for talent and probably the state that doesn’t get enough respect overall. But with all these Southern and Mid-Atlantic states, it’s clear why the SEC and ACC areas are so heavily recruited."
THE LIST
Georgia: 102 players
Ohio: 71
Alabama: 61
Virginia: 58
North Carolina: 54
Louisiana: 53
Pennsylvania: 51
Illinois: 50
New Jersey: 45
Mississippi: 44
South Carolina: 35
Michigan: 32
Maryland: 30
Tennessee: 30
Arizona: 29
New York: 28
Kansas: 26
Missouri: 22
Wisconsin: 22
Washington: 18
Outside U.S.: 18
Minnesota: 17
Colorado: 16
Indiana: 14
Iowa: 14
Kentucky: 14
Oklahoma: 13
Utah: 13
Connecticut: 11
Nevada: 9
Oregon: 9
Arkansas: 8
Hawaii: 8
Washington, D.C.: 8
Delaware: 7
Nebraska: 7
Massachusetts: 6
Idaho: 5
South Dakota: 3
North Dakota: 2
West Virginia: 2
Maine: 1
Montana: 1
New Hampshire: 1
New Mexico: 1
Note: Alaska, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wyoming have no players in the NFL.