Top 100 NFL players of 2025: Alabama produces most pro standouts as SEC, Big Ten dominate top 10 spots

CBS Sports' Pete Prisco unveiled his top 100 NFL players for the 2025 season, and nearly all of the stars on this year's list got their starts as college standouts. Only one, Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jordan Mailata, joined the league without playing a down of college football. Some were destined for professional greatness and dominated the college game to the highest degree, and others took more of a developmental path and did not play the best football of their careers until after the draft.

It should come as no surprise that Blue-blood programs send more prospects to the NFL than their non-title contenting counterparts each year, as recruiting success and elite coaching is a foolproof blueprint for developing pro talent. Some schools are NFL pipelines without the perennial College Football Playoff pedigree, though.

Alabama paces the field with 10 of Prisco's top 100 NFL players. Years of top-ranked recruiting classes with Nick Saban at the helm turned the Crimson Tide into a factory for elite talent, and the program churned through countless first-round picks on its way to six national championships this century. Many of the best players from those teams remain productive at the highest level.

The SEC and Big Ten dominate the leaderboard and account for all but one of the 10 programs with the most players in Prisco's rankings. The two most powerful conferences have long been home to the best talent, and that will likely only become more exaggerated in the years to come.

Below are the college football programs that produced the most players on Prisco's top 100 NFL standouts ahead of the 2025 season.

Alabama (10)

CB Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos (No. 9): Surtain's hot pro start only got hotter in 2024 when he won the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. One of 47 first-round picks under Nick Saban, Surtain matched a career high last year with four interceptions and has yet to miss a Pro Bowl across his four seasons in Denver.

RB Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens (No. 14): King Henry reemerged as an unstoppable force during his debut season with the Ravens. He tied for the NFL lead with 16 touchdowns, narrowly missed a career high in rushing yards with 1,921 and averaged a personal-best 5.9 yards per carry in his traditional workhorse role. The Heisman Trophy winner was second only to Saquon Barkley as the most productive ballcarrier in the league.

RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions (No. 32): The NFL got its first look at Gibbs as a featured back when David Montgomery went down with a regular season-ending injury, and the former Georgia Tech transfer did not disappoint. Gibbs rushed for at least 109 yards in each of his three starts down the stretch and capped off the regular season with a four-touchdown effort, including a receiving score.

Others: Quinnen Williams (No. 48), Will Anderson Jr. (No. 56), Xavier McKinney (No. 61), Brian Branch (No. 65), Josh Jacobs (No. 66), Marlon Humphrey (No. 68), Landon Dickerson (No. 72)

LSU (8)

WR - Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (No. 5): The Vikings made Jefferson the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback ahead of Year 5, and he made good on the investment when he matched his career high with 10 touchdowns. It was a down year by some measures for the superstar wideout, yet he still landed on the All-Pro first team for the second time in his already legendary career.

QB - Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (No. 7): Burrow has a case to be the NFL's best quarterback entering the 2025 season. While the Bengals fell short of expectations last fall, the Heisman Trophy winner and national champion excelled in his most productive pro campaign with league-leading marks in completions (460), pass attempts (652), passing yards (4,918) and touchdowns (43). The uptick in volume also came with greater efficiency, and Burrow is currently the league's all-time leader in career completion rate at 68.6%.

WR - Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals (No. 8): Chase was the greatest beneficiary of Cincinnati's remarkable passing campaign in 2024 and used his chemistry with Burrow to flourish in the best year of his four-year Bengals tenure. He paced all NFL receivers with 127 catches, 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns as the primary target for his old LSU teammate.

Others: Derek Stingley Jr. (No. 23), Jayden Daniels (No. 33), Brian Thomas Jr. (No. 44), Malik Nabers (No. 45), Danielle Hunter (No. 47).

Oklahoma (6)

OT - Lane Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles (No. 12): Johnson won his second Super Bowl as the veteran anchor of the Eagles' dominant offensive line. The six-time Pro Bowler has been with the franchise since it selected him out of Oklahoma with the fourth pick in the 2013 draft. At age 35, the right tackle is playing the best football of his career.

C - Creed Humphrey, Kansas City Chiefs (No. 16): The Chiefs made Humphrey the highest-paid center in the NFL last summer with a four-year, $72 million contract extension, and it looks well worth it. Humphrey capitalized on the payday with his debut appearance on the All-Pro first team. The second-rounder out of Oklahoma already has a pair of Super Bowl championships under his belt just four years into his pro tenure.

WR - CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys (No. 27): Last season saw regression for Lamb and the Cowboys' offense, but the downturn was entirely a product of Dak Prescott's injury and limited upside at quarterback from that point onward. Lamb was one of the few bright spots of a highly disappointing 2024 Cowboys campaign as he crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth time in as many years. He is locked in with Dallas through 2028 on a $136 million deal.

Others: Trent Williams (No. 34), Jalen Hurts (No. 52), Baker Mayfield (No. 57)

Iowa (5)

OT Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 20): The former Big Ten Lineman of the Year did not skip a beat when he moved up to the NFL in 2020, rattling off four Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl crown over his first half decade as a Buccaneer. Wirfs became the highest-paid offensive lineman in league history when he inked a $140 million extension last offseason.

TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers (No. 25): Iowa is a tight end factory, and Kittle is the face of that pipeline. Last season was his fourth with at least 1,000 receiving yards, and the 49ers locked him up this spring on a four-year extension that makes him the top earner among NFL tight ends. The former Hawkeye continues to outperform expectations as a fifth-round pick in 2017.

Others: Tyler Linderbaum (No. 53), Cooper DeJean (No. 85), Sam LaPorta (No. 86)

Georgia (4)

DT Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles (No. 17): The Georgia-to-Philadelphia pipeline has been a fruitful one for the Eagles, who loaded up on Kirby Smart's defensive standouts over the last few drafts. Carter is chief among that group after a breakout season in which he set career highs in nearly every category en route to a Super Bowl title. He has championship pedigree as a two-time College Football Playoff winner, too.

TE Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders (No. 22): Expectations for Bowers were through the roof after he excelled as one of the best tight ends in college football history. The two-time Mackey Award winner actually exceeded his rookie year outlook with an outrageous campaign in which he set the NFL rookie reception record at 112 and rookie tight end receiving yard record at 1,194.

Others: Roquan Smith (No. 87), Ladd McConkey (No. 93)

Oregon (4)

OT Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions (No. 21): Sewell was the best lineman in college football by the time he departed Oregon, and the three-year Duck has delivered on the hype as an NFL standout. Oregon only got a small sample out of its stud left tackle as he missed half a season with an injury and opted out of the 2020 campaign, but those absences did nothing to derail what has been a stellar start to his Lions career.

QB Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (No. 49): The Chargers unlocked all of the potential Herbert flashed at Oregon and turned him into one of the league's top young quarterbacks. The Eugene native is among the NFL's best at preventing turnovers -- one of the hallmarks of his career as a Duck. His four-interception game in last year's Wild Card appearance was uncharacteristic as he had coughed up the ball just three times all season to that point.

Others: Christian Gonzalez (No. 62), Bucky Irving (No. 94)

Florida State (3)

OLB Jared Verse, Los Angeles Rams (No. 54): Verse racked up nine sacks in each of his two years at Florida State, and while he logged only half that in his rookie year, he quickly established himself as a rising star in the NFL. The former FCS standout won the league's Defensive Rookie of the Year honor and looks poised to wreak the same kind of havoc he did with the Seminoles for a long time.

Others: Derwin James (No. 95), Jalen Ramsey (No. 99)

Mississippi State (3)

DT Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs (No. 18): While he maxed out at three sacks in a season at Mississippi State, Jones turned into one of the NFL's best pass rushers from the interior defensive line. The three-time Super Bowl champion remains with the Chiefs after they selected him in the second round nearly a decade ago, and he holds the NFL record for the most consecutive games with a sack at 11.

Others: Jeffery Simmons (No. 78), Dak Prescott (No. 90)

Ohio State (3)

DE Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers (No. 35): Bosa has never logged fewer than nine sacks in a full season, and that upside was obvious when he shined at Ohio State from 2016-18. He followed in his brother, Joey's, footsteps with the Buckeyes and has been the slightly more productive of the two across their NFL careers. Bosa was the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Others: Cameron Heyward (No. 37), Terry McLaurin (No. 81)

Wisconsin (3)

LB T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 11): When he posted 11.5 sacks in his final year at Wisconsin, it was clear Watt was destined for NFL greatness. He more than delivered over the ensuing eight seasons, leading the league in sacks three times and matching the single-season record in 2021 with a whopping 22.5 quarterback takedowns. Watt is on track for the Hall of Fame, like his brother and fellow Wisconsin product J.J. Watt.

Others: Zack Baun (No. 40), Jonathan Taylor (No. 50)