What Percentage of College Football Players Go to the NFL?

The answer to this question may surprise you. While the percentage of college football players who go on to play in the NFL is relatively small, there are still many talented athletes who make the jump to the professional level.

Introduction

In order to understand what percentage of college football players go on to play in the NFL, it’s important to understand a few things about the NFL. The NFL is the highest level of professional football in the United States, and it is made up of 32 teams. Each team has 53 active players on its roster, and each team can also have up to 10 practice squad players.

The Numbers

According to the NCAA, only 6.8% of college football players go on to play in the NFL. That number has been relatively stable over the years, but it’s still a small percentage. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that contribute to that.

The NFLPA’s Annual Allocation Report

The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) recently released its annual allocation report, which revealed that only 1.6% of college football players go on to play in the NFL.

While this number may seem small, it actually represents a slight increase from last year’s figure of 1.5%. The NFLPA attributes this increase to the fact that there are now more NFL teams than ever before, meaning that there are more roster spots available for players.

So, while the odds of making it to the NFL are still quite low, there is a slightly higher chance of doing so than there was in previous years. If you’re a college football player with dreams of playing in the NFL, don’t give up hope just yet!

The NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate

The NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) is the percentage of student-athletes who graduate from college within six years of initial enrollment. The GSR takes into account transfers and mid-year enrollees and is adjusted to account for differences in academic track, which makes it a more accurate measure than the federal graduation rate.

The overall GSR for Division I football players who entered college in 2013–14 is 70 percent, up two percentage points from last year. The GSR has increased by nine percentage points since 2007–08, when the NCAA first began publicly reporting this data.

Graduation rates vary widely among colleges and universities. For example, the GSR for football players at Duke University is 95 percent, while the GSR for football players at the University of Alabama is 69 percent.

The percentage of football players who go on to play in the NFL is very small — less than two percent. In fact, most college football players will never play professional football, regardless of whether they graduate or not.

The Breakdown

The FBS

The FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) is the top tier of NCAA football. The FBS is made up of 10 conferences and independent teams. The regular season runs from early September to late November, with each team playing 12 or more games.

During the regular season, each team has a chance to compete in a bowl game. There are 40 bowl games in total, and 78 teams make it to a bowl game. The bowl games are played from late December to early January.

The top teams from each conference make it to the college football playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament made up of four teams. The two semifinal games are played at neutral sites, and the winner of each game advances to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

The National Football League (NFL) is the professional football league in the United States. The NFL is made up of 32 teams, and each team plays 16 regular season games from September to December.

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that starts in January. The playoff field is made up of six teams from each conference: four division winners and two wild card teams. The divisional round features the four division winners playing the two wild card teams; the winner of each game advances to the conference championship game. The conference championship games are played at neutral sites, and the winner of each game advances to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day in American football. The Super Bowl is played between the champion of the National Football Conference (NFC) and the champion of the American Football Conference (AFC).

The FCS

The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) is a subset of Division I football in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The FCS was previously known as Division I-AA. The FCS consists of 12 conferences with between 60 and 80 teams in each. There are over 350 schools that play football at this level.

Players who come from FCS schools have a very tough road to the NFL. In 2014, there were only 78 players from FCS schools that were on NFL rosters. That is less than 1% of the total number of NFL players.

Of those 78 players, 24 were drafted and 54 were signed as undrafted free agents. The percentage of drafted players from the FCS has been increasing in recent years. In 2012, only 14% of NFL players came from the FCS. In 2014, that number rose to 31%.

The reason for this increase is simple: more and more FCS schools are sending players to the NFL. From 2012 to 2014, the number of FCS players drafted increased by 71%. As recently as 2010, there were only 19 players drafted from the FCS.

Clearly, there is a trend here. The talent level at the FCS is on the rise, and more and more players are making it to the NFL. If you’re a college football player with dreams of playing in the NFL, don’t count yourself out just because you’re not playing at an “elite” school

Conclusion

In conclusion, while we cannot know the exact percentage of college football players who go on to play in the NFL, it is clear that the number is relatively small. Even if we assume that every player who is drafted makes it onto an NFL roster, that number would still only represent a tiny fraction of all college football players. For most players, the odds of making it to the NFL are simply not very good.