Which colleges have produced the most first-round picks in NFL Draft history?

Published April 23, 2025

The first round of the NFL Draft is imminent. Soon we will learn where the top prospects will land and start their journey with a new team.

Many of those prospects tend to come out of the same colleges, as some schools have a knack for developing NFL talent and then dispersing players throughout the league. So, we took a look at which college football programs have had the most prospects drafted in the first round since the NFL Draft began in 1936.

Top 10 colleges with most first-round picks in NFL Draft history

10. Georgia: 48

Several of Georgia's recent draft picks helped the Philadelphia Eagles win their Super Bowl LIX ring. That includes first-rounders Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Jordan Davis, who were all key contributors to the defensive side.

The Bulldogs also produced Brock Bowers, who had one of the best rookie seasons for a tight end in NFL history. In 2024, he broke Mike Ditka's 63-year-old 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 86 balls. Bowers topped him with 112 catches.

9. Oklahoma: 50

The Sooners have sent a slew of quarterbacks to the NFL in recent years, including first overall picks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Mayfield has bounced around franchises, but he's 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 still a playmaker when healthy, though he's struggled to stay on the field due to 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 players 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). Those stats ranked in the top 10 among all NFL receivers, too. Daniels had the greatest rookie season by a quarterback ever. He led the Washington Commanders all the way to the NFC Championship Game, the franchise's first since it won the Super Bowl in 1991.

The Tigers have a history of producing elite players. Joe Burrow, selected first overall in 2020, is a top-five quarterback in the NFL. 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 2020) are the top two highest-paid WRs in the NFL once Chase's new contract kicks in.

7. Michigan: 53

Aidan Hutchinson has made the state of Michigan extremely proud. He went from Heisman Trophy runner-up at Michigan in 2021 to the second overall pick by the Detroit Lions in 2022. 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.

6. Florida: 58

Many of Florida's recent first-round selections haven't turned out to live up to their high draft status, such as Kyle Pitts, Anthony Richardson and Kadarius Toney. Both Richardson and Pitts were raw athletes at Florida, but haven't turned that into NFL production yet. 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, and spent eight total seasons in the league.

5. Miami: 67

Miami likely will have the first overall pick in the 2025 draft with quarterback Cam Ward. The last time the Hurricanes had a first-round pick was in 2021, when defensive studs Jaelan Phillips and Gregory Rousseau were drafted by AFC East rivals Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills, respectively.

Phillips has had injury-riddled seasons the last two years, but in 2022, he registered seven sacks and 61 total tackles. Rousseau had his best season in 2024, recording eight sacks and a career-high 53 total tackles.

4. Notre Dame: 71

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 finished the 2024 season with a 94.3 percent pass-block win rate. The other first-rounder is Baltimore Ravens defensive back Kyle Hamilton, who made the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro team in each of the last two seasons.

Along with Alt, the Irish have sent additional linemen 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.

3. Alabama: 81

Alabama has racked up first-round draft selections lately. Three Crimson Tide players have been selected in the first round in each of the past two drafts. Back in 2021, six players were taken in the first round out of Alabama.

A few of the Tide's stars include Jahmyr Gibbs, DeVonta Smith and Patrick Surtain II. In 2024, Surtain won the Defensive Player of the Year award. 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, and hauled one in during the third quarter of the Eagles' Super Bowl LIX win.

2. USC: 85

USC had the No. 1 overall draft pick, 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 highs. Meanwhile, 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 Weeks 12-17.

1. Ohio State: 91

The Buckeyes have sent a ton 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 took home Offensive Rookie of the Year honors 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.

The defensive side can't be overlooked, though. Nick Bosa has to be mentioned when it comes to recent Ohio State alums, as the San Francisco 49ers star has made the Pro Bowl in all but one of his NFL seasons (the lone exception came in 2020, when he tore his ACL in Week 2). He also won Defensive Player of the Year in 2022.

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