The first round of the NFL Draft is imminent. Soon we will learn where each top prospect will land and start their journey with their new team.
Many of those top prospects, however, tend to come out of the same colleges, as some programs have a knack for developing NFL talent, and then dispersing them throughout the league. So, we took a look at which college football programs have had the most prospects drafted in the first round in since the NFL Draft began in 1936.
Top 10 colleges with most first round picks in NFL Draft history
Many of Georgia’s recent draft picks helped the Philadelphia Eagles win its most recent Super Bowl ring, including first-rounders Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Jordan Davis, all key contributors to the defensive side.
The Bulldogs also produced Brock Bowers in 2024, who had one of the best rookie seasons for tight ends in NFL history. He broke Mike Ditka’s 63-year-long record for most receiving yards by a rookie TE with 1,194 yards. Bowers also destroyed the record for receptions, which had been set the year prior when Sam LaPorta caught 88 balls. Bowers topped him with 112 catches.
The Sooners have sent a slew of quarterbacks to the NFL in recent years, including 1st overall picks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Mayfield has bounced around franchises, but led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the playoffs in the last two seasons. Murray is a dynamic scrambler who broke out in 2020 when he ran for 11 touchdowns and threw for 26. He’s since struggled on the field and off the field with injuries as his Arizona Cardinals haven’t made the playoffs in three seasons.
Ceedee Lamb is the best current player out of Oklahoma. He led the NFL with 135 receptions during the 2023 season and has made the Pro Bowl for four consecutive years.
8. LSU: 51
LSU alums Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas took the league by storm in 2024, as some of the best rookies at their respective positions. Thomas led all rookies in receiving yards (1,282) and touchdowns (10), while Nabers finished first among rookies in receiving yards per game (80.3). Daniels was the best among starting rookie quarterbacks in completion percentage (69.0%). Daniels led the Washington Commanders all the way the NFC Championship Game, the franchises’ first since they won the Super Bowl in 1991.
The Tigers have a history of producing elite receivers such as Thomas and Nabers, as Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson also went in the first round out of LSU and have already put together stellar careers. Chase (drafted in 2021) and Jefferson (in 2019) are the top two highest-paid WRs in the NFL once Chase’s new contract kicks in.
Aidan Hutchinson has made the state of Michigan extremely proud. He went from a national champion in 2021 to the second overall pick by the Detroit Lions. He has since become a star on their defensive line. Before he broke his tibia and fibula this past season, he racked up 7.5 sacks in five games. He had 11.5 the season prior.
Michigan has produced a few other quality defensive players drafted in the first round in recent years including Kwity Paye, Mazi Smith and Rashan Gary.
Many of Florida’s recent 1st round draft selections haven’t turned out to meet their price, including, Kyle Pitts, Anthony Richardson, and Kadarius Toney. Both Richardson and Pitts were raw athletes at Florida, but haven’t turned that into NFL production. Toney’s a speedster type of receiver, but off-field issues and dropped passes have led to him being released.
Keanu Neal is the best prospect to be drafted out of Florida in the first round of the NFL Draft in recent memory. The safety played five seasons in Atlanta, earning a Pro-Bowl nod in 2017.
Miami likely will have the first overall pick in the 2025 draft with quarterback Cam Ward. The last time they had a first round pick was 2021 when defensive studs Jaelan Phillips and Gregory Rousseau were drafted by AFC East rivals Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.
Phillips has had injury-riddled seasons the last two years, but in 2022, he racked up seven sacks and 61 total tackles. Rousseau had his best season in 2024, recording eight sacks and a career-best 53 total tackles.
Los Angeles Chargers tackle Joe Alt was one of two first-round draft picks to come out of Notre Dame in the last five seasons. He allowed just six sacks in his rookie season in 2024. The other first-rounder is Baltimore Ravens’ defensive back Kyle Hamilton, who made the Pro Bowl in each of the last two seasons.
Along with Alt, the Irish have sent additional lineman to the NFL in the first round. Ronnie Stanley, Hamilton’s teammate in Baltimore, has played nine seasons in the NFL after being drafted in 2016. He made his second Pro Bowl this past season. Indianapolis Colts’ guard Quenton Nelson has made the Pro Bowl in each of his seven NFL seasons.
Alabama has racked up first-round draft selections recently. Three Crimson Tide players have been selected in the first round in the last two drafts. Back in 2021, six players were selected in the first round out of Alabama. A few of the stars include Jahmyr Gibbs, Devonta Smith and Patrick Surtain II.
Surtain won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024. Gibbs led all running backs with 16 rushing touchdowns, and averaged an impressive 5.6 yards per carry in his second NFL season. Smith caught a career-best eight touchdowns, in 2024, and hauled one in during the second quarter of Super Bowl LIX.
2. USC: 85
USC had the No. 1 overall draft pick, in quarterback Caleb Williams, in 2024. The Trojans have also produced a pair of up-and-coming first-round receivers in Drake London and Jordan Addison.
London had his best year, in 2024. He caught 100 passes for 1,271 yards and nine touchdowns, all career-bests. While Addison broke out in the latter half of his second NFL season, snagging 38 catches for 516 yards and six touchdowns over a six-game stretch between Week 12-17.
The Buckeyes have sent a slew of offensive studs to the NFL in recent first rounds. Quarterback C.J. Stroud has won playoff games in each of his two NFL seasons and won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023. Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson were selected one pick after each other in 2022 and both overcame spotty quarterback play to reach 1,000 yards in their first two NFL seasons.
Nick Bosa can’t go without mentioning when it comes to recent Ohio State alums as the San Francisco 49ers’ star has made the Pro Bowl in all of his six NFL seasons, except in 2020 when he tore his ACL. He also won Defensive Player of the Year in 2022.
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