LSU, Not Alabama Is the SEC's True NFL Factory

A funny thing happened on Alabama’s way to taking over the title as being college football’s preeminent factory of NFL players: LSU decided not to give it up.

Although at one time last season there were more former Crimson Tide players on NFL rosters than any other college, LSU had the most during the 2015 opening weekend.

According to the NFL, there were 40 former Tigers on active rosters, which does not include practice squads, injured players or anyone on the physically unable to perform list.

School	Players
1. LSU	40
2. Miami	37
3. USC	35
4. Alabama	34
(tie) Georgia	34
6. Florida	31
(tie) Florida State	31
8. Oklahoma	30
9. Notre Dame	29
10. Clemson	28

That’s up from last year’s 38, which also led all schools.

Somewhat surprisingly, Alabama was tied with Georgia for fourth most with 34, one behind Southern California and two behind Miami. 

That’s actually down two from last year, when it was third behind LSU and USC (37).

It’s the first time since 2009 that Alabama hasn’t seen an increase of players in the NFL. When Nick Saban arrived in 2007 it wasn’t listed among the top 25 schools and didn’t have any players selected in the 2008 draft.

There were also five former Crimson Tide players either on injured reserve, practice squads or suspended during Week 1.

Since 2010 Alabama has had 44 players drafted, while LSU has had 39, including just four this year.

Postion	School	Players
QB	USC	4
RB	Oregon	5
WR	Miami	6
TE	Stanford	5
T	Iowa, Virginia	5
G	Alabama, Tennessee	5
C	Florida, USC	3
DT	LSU	7
DE	Florida	6
LB	USC	8
DB	LSU	10
P	Tennessee	3
K	Florida, Texas, Texas A&M	2

A total of 251 colleges were represented on Week 1 rosters. Among Southeastern Conference schools, eight were among the top 25, with Florida sixth, Auburn and Tennessee tied for 12th with 26, and South Carolina and Texas A&M tied for 22nd with 20.

Opening weekend is the only time the NFL does a school and position breakdown because rosters are essentially always in flux. 

Overall, there were 256 players weighing under 200 pounds, 313 players under 6'0" tall, and 360 players weighing over 300 pounds. 

The Chicago Bears had 12 players weighing fewer than 200 pounds, the most of any team in that category. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the most players under 6'0" tall with 14. The New York Jets had the most players weighing 300 pounds or more with 15.

Of the 40 LSU players who played last weekend, 24 were starters including punters Donnie Jones (Eagles) and Brad Wing (Giants).

This year’s breakdown by position also fueled LSU’s claim of being Defensive Back U, as it had 10 on active rosters. It’s also first in defensive tackles with seven.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.