With One Week till the Draft, Who’s Really PositionU?
A tradition unlike any other. Alumni for their respective school taking to Twitter claiming their school to be WRU or perhaps CBU. Even the colleges have taken on the reputation as well. For example, back in 2019, Clemson receivers even wore shirts with WRU displayed across.
But how accurate are their shirts or Twitter claims? What school produces the best players at each position? What about the conference? Let’s find out!
Heading into the 2020 regular season, the SEC led the way with 384 players on NFL rosters. The Big 10 was second with 264, followed by the ACC with 208 players. To the surprise of many, the Big 12 finished fifth with 133 players on NFL rosters.
Of course, that all might change come time, April 29th. However, given the wide margins, one could reasonably expect the SEC to lead the way once again in 2021.
As far as by school, it was to no surprise to Alabama leading the way with 56 players on NFL rosters. Ohio State was a close second at 50, followed by LSU and Florida with 41 and 39 respectively. When three of the top four reside in the SEC, it’s no secret to see why the SEC is the ultimate breadwinner in this case.
There we have it. The SEC and Alabama are the runaway winners, but let’s see if we can find out who the real PositionU’s are. For the sake of simplicity, our data was configured to include mostly starters for this aspect of our analysis as well as big-named rookies.
QBU
Oklahoma: Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts
Louisville: Lamar Jackson and Teddy Bridgewater
Alabama: Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones
Clemson: Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence
California: Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff
North Dakota State: Carson Wentz and Trey Lance
Ohio State: Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields
The Verdict: With numerous schools producing two starting NFL QBs, Oklahoma takes the crown here with three and is the official QBU. Lincoln Riley continues to churn out QBs and may have another in the works with Spencer Rattler.
RBU
Alabama: Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, Kenyan Drake, T.J. Yeldon, and Najee Harris
Georgia: Todd Gurley, Sony Michel, Nick Chubb, and D’Andre Swift
Wisconsin: Melvin Gordon and Jonathon Taylor
Florida State: Dalvin Cook and Cam Akers
LSU: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Derrius Guice, and Leonard Fournette
Pittsburgh: James Conner, LeSean McCoy, and Dion Lewis
Others: Ohio State and Stanford
The Verdict: Alabama is simply a factory. Producing them as fast as they leave. This time it’s Najee Harris, who’s expected to be drafted in the early rounds. With Henry leading the pack, ‘Bama is officially RBU.
WRU
LSU: Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Justin Jefferson, DJ Chark Jr., Ja’Marr Chase, and Terrace Marshall Jr.
Alabama: Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, Devonta Smith, and Jaylen Waddle
Clemson: DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Mike Williams, Tee Higgins, and Amari Rodgers
Ole Miss: A.J. Brown, DK Metcalf, LaQuon Treadwell, and Elijah Moore
USC: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marqise Lee, Robert Woods, Nelson Agholor, and Michael Pittman Jr.
The Verdict: This may just be one of the hardest to crown. LSU and Alabama locked in for the top spot. The nod would have to go to Alabama once again. Alabama takes the coveted title of WRU.
TEU
Stanford: Zach Ertz and Austin Hooper
Miami: Jimmy Graham and David Njoku
Iowa: George Kittle, Noah Fant, and T.J. Hockenson
The Verdict: George Kittle is a top two TE in the league. Fant and Hockenson are set to have a breakout year in year three. Iowa gets the nod here and the title of TEU.
OLU
Alabama: D.J. Fluker, Ryan Kelly, Cam Robinson, Jedrick Willis Jr., Landon Dickerson, and Alex Leatherwood
Oklahoma: Trent Williams, Lane Johnson, Orlando Brown Jr., Ben Powers, Cody Ford, Dru Samia, Bobby Evans, and Creed Humphrey
Wisconsin: Ryan Ramczyk, Kevin Zeitler, Rob Havenstein, Ricky Wagner, Travis Frederick, Michael Deiter, and David Edwards
Norte Dame: Zach Martin, Quenton Nelson, Ronnie Stanley, Mike McGlinchey, Nick Martin, and Liam Eichenberg
Florida: Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, Marcus Gilbert, D.J. Humphries, Trent Brown
Iowa: Bryan Bulaga, Riley Reiff, Brandon Scherff, Austin Blythe, James Daniels, and Tristan Wirfs
The Verdict: The honor here goes to Norte Dame. Nelson looks to be one the most dominant guard in the league, a Martin held previously. OLU officially resides in Norte Dame.
DLU
Alabama: Marcell Dareus, Jonathon Allen, Da’Ron Paye, A’Shawn Robinson, Dalvin Tomlinson, Quinnen Williams, and Christin Barremore
Clemson: Grady Jarrett, Vic Beasely, Shaq Lawson, Dexter Lawrence, Christian Wilkins, and Clelin Ferrell
Ohio State: Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa, and Chase Young
Others: LSU, FSU, and UF
The Verdict: Alabama is the breadwinner once more. The crown for DLU rests in Tuscaloosa.
LBU
LSU: Devin White, Patrick Queen, Deion Jones, K’Lavon Chaisson, Kwon Alexander, and Jabril Cox
Georgia: Justin Houston, Roquan Smith, Leonard Floyd, Jarvis Jones, Alec Olgetree, and Jordon Jenkins
Alabama: Dont’a Hightower, C.J. Mosley, Rashaan Evans, Reggie Ragland, Rueben Foster, and Dylan Moses
UCLA: Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, and Myles Jack
The Verdict: UCLA may have produced the best trio at one time, however, LSU takes home the hardware here. Devin White has shown to be one of the most dominant linebackers in the league, along with Deion Jones. LSU claims LBU.
CBU
LSU: Tyrann Mathieu, Tre’Davious White, Grant Delpit, Greedy Williams, Patrick Peterson, Jalen Mills, and Jamal Adams
Florida State: Jalen Ramsey, Ronald Darby, Xavier Rhodes, Derwin James, LaMarcus Joyner, Asante Samuel Jr.
Alabama: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Dre Kirkpatrick, Marlon Humphrey, Eddie Jackson, Trevon Diggs, Kareem Jackson, Landon Collins, Xavier McKinney, Ha Ha Clinton Dix, and Patrick Sutrain II.
Ohio State: Jeff Okudah, Denzel Ward, Bradley Roby, Malik Hooker, Vonn Bell, Marshon Lattimore, Malcom Jenkins, Eli Apple, and Shaun Wade
Florida: Joe Haden, Keanu Neal, Vernon Hargreaves III, Marcus Maye, and Chaunce Gardner-Johnson,
The Verdict: LSU is officially DBU. Over the years, they have produced some of the top players at the position. ‘Bama is a close second, but the star-studded roster of LSU reigns in this department.