About 200 former FCS football players are on NFL rosters and practice squads annually. Here are the schools with the most alums in the league at a particular position.
Eastern Washington has long been considered Wide Receiver U. in FCS football.
Obviously, the conservation starts with Cooper Kupp, who rewrote a lot of the Division I subdivision’s receiving record book, but a number of others have enjoyed incredible careers as well.
Similarly, North Dakota State earned the nod for being FCS Offensive Line U. All you’ve had to do is look at the big men in the trenches who paved the well for a record 10 national championships.
The distinction is earned by a program not just by volume of standouts and success in the FCS but also with sending players on to the NFL.
Some programs have been doing it better than others during this decade.
Cooper Kupp? Yeah, the pride of EWU became a two-time Super Bowl champion this year.
Following an analysis of NFL rosters in the 2020-25 seasons, here are the FCS programs with the most alums on active rosters, practice squads or on reserve this decade. The list includes players who spent the majority of their college career in the FCS but had one final season at FBS (those who reached two seasons at FBS are not included).
MORE FCS ON OPTA ANALYST
Quarterback
1. North Dakota State (4) – Trey Lance, Cam Miller, Easton Stick, Carson Wentz
2. San Diego (2) – Josh Johnson, Reid Sinnett
Running Back/Fullback
1. South Dakota State (3) – Isaiah Davis, Amar Johnson, Pierre Strong Jr.
T2. Harvard (2) – Kyle Juszczyk, Aaron Shampklin
T2. Maine (2) – Patrick Ricard, Zavier Scott
T2. Monmouth (2) – Pete Guerriero, Owen Wright
T2. North Dakota State (2) – Bruce Anderson, Hunter Luepke
Tight End/Wide Receiver
T1. Eastern Washington (5) – Kendrick Bourne, Efton Chism III, Jakobie Keeney-James, Cooper Kupp, Nsimba Webster
T1. North Dakota State (5) – Josh Babicz, Ben Ellefson, Noah Gindorff, Darrius Shepherd, Christian Watson
FCS in NFL 2020-25
Offensive Line
1. North Dakota State (11) – Joe Haeg, Nash Jensen, Zack Johnson, Jake Kubas, Cody Mauch, Mason Miller, Dillon Radunz, Jalen Sundell, Billy Turner, Cordell Volson, Grey Zabel
T2. Harvard (4) – Nick Easton, Anthony Fabiano, Adam Redmond, Cole Toner
T2. James Madison (4) – Liam Fornadel, Aaron Stinnie, Earl Watford, Josh Wells
T2. William & Mary (4) – Charles Grant, Bill Murray, Colby Sorsdal, Andrew Trainer
Defensive Line
T1. Stephen F. Austin (3) – John Franklin-Myers, Rayshad Nichols, BJ Thompson
T1. Northern Iowa (3) – Khristian Boyd, Elerson Smith, Xavier Williams
Linebacker
1. North Dakota State (5) – Chris Board, Jabril Cox, Kyle Emanuel, Brayden Thomas, Derrek Tuszka
T2. Illinois State (3) – B.J. Bello, Jalan Gaines, Zeke Vandenburgh
T2. Sacramento State (3) – Todd Davis, Marte Mapu, George Obinna
T2. South Carolina State (3) – Shaquille Leonard, Aaron Smith, Joe Thomas
Defensive Back
T1. South Dakota State (5) – Dalys Beanum, Jordan Brown, Don Gardner, Michael Griffin II, J.T. Hassell
T1. Southern Illinois (5) – Jeremy Chinn, Madre Harper, Craig James, PJ Jules, Ryan Neal
Special Teams (Punter/Kicker/Long Snapper)
1. UC Davis (2) – Colby Wadman, Daniel Whelan
T2. Appalachian State (1) – Sam Martin
T2. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1) – Jamie Gillan
T2. Austin Peay (1) – Maddux Trujillo
T2. Columbia (1) – Cameron Nizialek
T2. Delaware (1) – Joe Fortunato
T2. Eastern Kentucky (1) – Jordan Berry
T2. Idaho (1) – Hogan Hatten
T2. Marist (1) – Jason Myers
T2. Portland State (1) – Seth Vernon
T2. Sam Houston State (1) – Lachlan Edwards
T2. Southern Utah (1) – Brock Miller
T2. William & Mary (1) – Luke Rhodes
Jesse Abrahams and Chase Weight of Stats Perform’s U.S. Data Insights contributed research to this story. For* more FCS football coverage, follow atX,* ********Facebook**** ,*** *****Instagram* and Bluesky.***