Each year, 250+ college prospects are drafted by NFL teams and another 500+ are signed as undrafted free agents. These roster candidates are provided by 800+ college football programs from coast-to-coast. 93 percent of NFL 53-man active rosters came from NCAA FBS schools in 2025.
According to drafthistory.com, Notre Dame (538) has had the most players drafted, followed by USC (533), Ohio State (500), and Michigan and Alabama (521). Since 2020, Georgia leads the pack with 70, then comes Alabama (63),
Ohio State (61), Michigan (58) and LSU (57).
It’s fair to say that the Rams aren’t on the “big name programs” bandwagon, but they do follow closely behind. L.A.’s scouting braintrust does a good job of scouring the top conferences without relying too heavily on particular schools. You can see that by studying the Rams preseason roster for the upcoming 2026 season.
American Athletic (2)
Tulane (1)
WR Mario Williams
Navy (1)
LS Joe Cardona
Atlantic Coast (19)
North Carolina St. (4)
DT Larrell Murchison, C Dylan McMahon, S Tanner Ingle, RB Jordan Waters
Florida St. (2)
DT Braden Fiske, E Keir Thomas
Louisville (2)
E Wesley Bailey, TE Mark Redman
Miami (2)
S Kamren Kinchens, WR CJ Daniels
Wake Forest (2)
DT Kobie Turner, S Nick Anderson
Syracuse (1)
TE Dan Villari
North Carolina (2)
E Tomon Fox, C Austin Blaske
Stanford (1)
TE Colby Parkinson
Clemson (2)
DT Tyler Davis, TE Davis Allen,
Pittsburgh (1)
WR Konata Mumpfield
Conference USA (1)
Western Kentucky (1)
TE Tyler Higbee
Big 12 (8)
Houston (3)
ILB Grant Stuard, RB Dean Conners, E Eddie Walls (IR)
Cincinnati (1)
WR Tyler Scott
BYU (1)
WR Puka Nacua
TCU (1)
G Steve Avila
Colorado (1)
ILB Nathan Landman
Oklahoma State (1)
WR Brennan Presley
Big 10 (15)
Michigan State (1)
T AJ Arcuri
UCLA (2)
S Quentin Lake, CB Alex Johnson
Oregon (1)
TE Terrance Ferguson
Washington (2)
CB Trent McDuffie, C Coleman Shelton
Wisconsin (2))
E Darryl Peterson, S Nyzier Fourqurean
USC (1)
G Justin Dedich
Ohio St. (2)
DT Ty Hamilton, TE Max Klare
Iowa (1)
T Alaric Jackson
Michigan (3)
RB Blake Corum, E Josaiah Stewart, CB Josh Wallace
Independents (1)
Notre Dame (1)
RB Kyren Williams
Mid-American (2)
Buffalo (1)
ILB Shaun Dolac
Toledo (1)
E Desjuan Johnson
Mountain West (3)
San Jose St. (1)
T David Quessenberry
Air Force (1)
DT Payton Zdroik
Northern Illinois (1)
S Nate Valcarcel
Pac-12 (6)
Fresno St. (3)
WR Davante Adams, RB Ronnie Rivers, CB Al’zillion Hamilton
Washington St. (2)
CB Jaylen Watson, CB Cam Lampkin
Utah St. (1)
G Wyatt Bowles
Southeastern (24)
Alabama (3)
QB Ty Simpson, DT Tim Keenan, ILB Nikhai Hill-Green
Georgia (3)
QB Matthew Stafford, T Warren McClendon, QB Stetson Bennett
Arkansas (3)
S Kamren Curl, C Beaux Limmer, TE Rohan Jones
Mississippi St. (1)
CB Emmanuel Forbes
Missouri (3)
T Keagan Trost, K Harrison Meevis, CB Drey Norwood
Vanderbilt (1)
T Bryce Henderson
Tennessee (3)
E Byron Young, S Jaylen McCollough, DT Jaxon Moi
Texas (4)
DT Poona Ford, WR Jordan WhittingtonDT Bill Norton, QB Matthew Caldwell
Texas A&M (1)
DT Myles Garrett
Auburn (1)
RB Jarquez Hunter
LSU (1)
ILB Omar Speights
Southwestern (1)
Florida A&M (1)
WR Xavier Smith
Sunbelt (3)
Louisiana (1)
G Kevin Dotson
Marshall (1)
ILB Elias Neal
Louisiana Tech (1)
WR Tru Edwards
Division 2 (1)
Wingate (1)
P Ethan Evans
Where did the current Rams play college ball?
Looking at where the Rams 2026 roster matriculated, there’s a distinct southern lean. Of the 86 players under contract, 51 (59.3%) come from schools a combination of below the Mason-Dixon Line and in the eastern half of the nation.
As far as conferences go, Rams General Manager Les Snead favors the SEC (27.9%), followed by the ACC (22.1%), Big 10 (17.4%), and Big 12 (9.3%). Having three out of four players (76.7%) from the Power Four college football conferences is not surprising, but having three players from Fresno State and six total from the imploded Pac-12 is a bit. But when it comes to Snead and the Rams drafting strategy, nothing should be that surprising.
