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Stan Becton | NCAA.com | January 16, 2022

Here are the colleges of every Division I player in the NFL playoffs

These are the biggest stadiums in college football

The 2022 NFL playoffs are here, and there are 677 players on active rosters that attended college at current FBS programs. The total number for Division I football increases to over 700 player when adding in FCS programs.

With talent coming from across the country, here's a look at where the current active players on NFL playoff teams got their collegiate starts.

The colleges of every Division I player in the 2022 NFL playoffs

All roster information is as of Jan. 14, 2022

Total Number of Players on roster School
24 Alabama
23 LSU
21 Michigan
19 Oklahoma
17 Florida
16 Iowa
15 Penn State, Ohio State
14 Washington, Clemson
13 Texas A&M, Georgia
11 Auburn
10 UCLA, Texas, Michigan State
9 Wisconsin, Stanford, Pitt, Notre Dame, Maryland
8 Utah, Southern California, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Purdue, NC State, Mississippi State, Florida State, Boston College
7 Wake Forest, South Carolina, Oregon, Nebraska, Missouri, Miami (Fla.), Memphis
6 Vanderbilt, UCF, TCU, Oregon State, Ole Miss, Louisiana Tech, Kentucky, Colorado, Boise State, Arizona State
5 Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Cincinnati, Duke, Georgia Tech, Houston, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Southern Miss, Toledo, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia
4 BYU, Cal, FAU, Indiana, Iowa State, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Utah State
3 Central Michigan, Charlotte, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, Minnesota, Rutgers, San Diego State, South Florida, Western Michigan
2 Appalachian State, Buffalo, Coastal Carolina, Colorado State, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, FIU, Hawai'i, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Rice, San Jose State, Syracuse, Wyoming
1 Akron, Bowling Green, Georgia State, Louisiana, Marshall, Navy, Nevada, New Mexico State, Ohio, Old Dominion, South Alabama, SMU, Texas State, Tulsa, UAB, UConn, UL Monroe, UMass, UTEP, UTSA, Western Kentucky

From a conference perspective, the SEC leads the way with Alabama and LSU taking the top two spots and Florida rounding out the top five. However, the Big Ten has the most schools landing in the top 10 (4 schools) as Michigan has 21 former players on NFL rosters.

Only 16 schools have more than 10 players scattered across NFL playoff rosters. Among the rest, Memphis, out of the AAC, leads all schools not in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac 12 or Independents with seven players set to play in the 2021 NFL playoffs.

Scroll down to view the former FCS players in the NFL playoffs.

A deep dive into former FCS players

The FCS has 51* former players on active rosters and 74 total former players on NFL playoff teams. The Tennessee Titans lead all playoff teams with 10 players on the active roster, with the San Francisco 49ers in second with eight players.

The position with the most former FCS players is defensive back. North Dakota State leads all schools with five former players on NFL playoff rosters. Eight former HBCU players are also scattered across NFL playoff rosters; Grambling State, South Carolina State and North Carolina A&T lead all HBCUs with two former players. The Missouri Valley Football Conference tops all FCS conferences with 18 former players playing in the postseason.

Here's a breakdown of former FCS players on NFL rosters (including active rosters, reserves and practice squad) entering the playoffs.

Total Number of Players on roster Position
16 Defensive back
13 Offensive line
11 Linebacker
9 Tight End
8 Wide receiver, Defensive line
4 Quarterback
3 Running back
1 Fullback, Punter, Long snapper
Total Number of Players on roster School
5 North Dakota State
4 Eastern Washington
3 James Madison, South Dakota State, Weber State, Chattanooga, Harvard
2 South Carolina State, Indiana State, North Carolina A&T, Grambling State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Cal Poly, San Diego, Delaware
1 32 schools
Number of Players on Roster Conference
18 MVFC
12 Big Sky
8 CAA
7 SoCon
5 Ivy
4 Big South
3 SWAC, MEAC, Pioneer
2 NEC, Patriot, OVC, WAC, ASUN
1 Southland

Here's a complete list of every FCS player on NFL playoff rosters.

AFC No. 1 Tennessee Titans

  1. Kendall Lamm T Appalachian State+
  2. Dylan Cole LB Missouri State
  3. Nick Dzubnar LB Cal Poly
  4. Anthony Firkser TE Harvard
  5. Corey Levin G Chattanooga
  6. Dillon Radunz OL North Dakota State
  7. Derick Roberson OLB Sam Houston
  8. Chester Rogers WR Grambling State
  9. Buster Skrine CB Chattanooga
  10. Jackrabbit Jenkins CB North Alabama

Reserve/Injured

  1. MyCole Pruitt TE Southern Illinois
  2. B.J. Bello LB Illinois State

AFC No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs

  1. Jerick McKinnon RB Georgia Southern+

Reserve/Injured

  1. Chad Williams WR Grambling State

Practice Squad

  1. Daurice Fountain WR Northern Iowa


AFC No. 3 Buffalo Bills

  1. Taiwan Jones RB Eastern Washington
  2. Siran Neal CB Jacksonville State
  3. Spencer Brown OT Northern Iowa
  4. Taron Johnson CB Weber State

Practice Squad

  1. Jamie Gillan P Arkansas-Pine Bluff

AFC No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals

Practice Squad

  1. John Brannon CB Western Carolina
  2. Noah Spence DE Eastern Kentucky
  3. Austin Calitro LB Villanova

AFC No. 5 Las Vegas Raiders

  1. Brandon Parker T North Carolina A&T
  2. Patrick Onwuasor LB Portland State

Practice Squad

  1. Jordan Brown S South Dakota State

AFC No. 6 New England Patriots

  1. Kendrick Bourne WR Eastern Washington
  2. Justin Bethel DB Presbyterian
  3. Kristian Wilkerson WR Southeast Missouri State

Practice Squad

  1. Bill Murray DL William & Mary

AFC No. 7 Pittsburgh Steelers

  1. Christian Kuntz LS Duquesne
  2. Joe Haeg OT North Dakota State
  3. Derrek Tuszka OLB North Dakota State
  4. Miles Killebrew S Southern Utah
  5. Kevin Rader TE Youngstown State

NFC No. 1 Green Bay Packers

  1. Dominique Dafney TE Indiana State
  2. Billy Turner G/T North Dakota State

Reserve/Injured

  1. Robert Tonyan TE Indiana State

Practice Squad

  1. Abdullah Anderson DL Bucknell

NFC No. 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  1. Cameron Brate TE Harvard
  2. Aaron Stinnie G James Madison
  3. Josh Wells T James Madison
  4. Justin Watson WR UPenn
  5. Darren Fells TE UC Irvine*
  6. Cam Gill OLB Wagner

NFC No. 3 Dallas Cowboys

Practice Squad

  1. Ben DiNucci QB James Madison


NFC No. 4 Los Angeles Rams

  1. Michael Hoecht DL Brown
  2. Troy Reeder LB Delaware
  3. Cooper Kupp WR Eastern Washington
  4. Kareem Orr DB Chattanooga

Reserve/Injured

  1. Jamil Demby OL Maine
  2. Robert Rochell DB Central Arkansas

Practice Squad

  1. J. J. Koski WR Cal Poly
  2. Christian Rozeboom LB South Dakota State
  3. Jonah Williams DL Weber State

NFC No. 5 Arizona Cardinals

  1. Chase Edmonds RB Fordham
  2. Joshua Miles OL Morgan State
  3. Antonio Hamilton CB South Carolina State

Reserve/Injured 

  1. Robert Alford CB Southeastern Louisiana

Practice Squad

  1. Zach Kerr DL Delaware

NFC No. 6 San Francisco 49ers

  1. Josh Norman CB Coastal Carolina^
  2. Jimmy Garoppolo QB Eastern Illinois
  3. Samson Ebukam DL Eastern Washington
  4. Kyle Juszczyk FB Harvard
  5. Trey Lance QB North Dakota State
  6. Jaquiski Tartt S Samford
  7. Tom Compton OL South Dakota
  8. Ross Dwelley TE San Diego

NFC No. 7 Philadephia Eagles

  1. Alex Singleton LB Montana State
  2. Javon Hargrave DT South Carolina State
  3. Dallas Goedert TE South Dakota State
  4. Sua Opeta G Weber State
  5. Reid Sinnet QB San Diego

Practice Squad

  1. Craig James CB Southern Illinois
  2. Mac McCain III CB North Carolina A&T

*UC Irvine does not field football but is a Division I school
+Appalachian State and Georgia Southern were FCS programs through the 2013 season. Lamm played at Appalachian State from 2010-14. McKinnon played at Georgia Southern from 2010-13.
^ Coastal Carolina was an FCS program through the 2015 season. Norman played at Coastal Carolina from 2008-11.

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