| |

How many college football players make it to the NFL?

How many college football players make it to the NFL

Every young football player dreams of making it into the NFL. The NFL is the highest professional football level of football in the world, and it’s a billion-dollar organization.


What percentage of college football players make it to the NFL?

The percentage of college football players that make it to the NFL is 1.6 percent. That is an incredibly low percentage and leaves out 98.4 percent of players that didn’t qualify. There are about 71,060 college football players in the United States, and only 853 players make the pros each year.

Although it’s incredibly difficult to make it to the pros, there is clearly still a small percentage of athletes that made it. What does it take to make it into the NFL? Let’s find out.

Chances of Going Pro

Many sports fans know that the players they watch in college football teams have present the majority of their life trying to qualify for the NFL.

Players and fans eagerly await the words that kick off the annual player draft. The three-day spectacle where college football players ultimately find out if they’ll have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of joining the league.

The chances of going pro are very slim. Just to put it into perspective, only the top 8% of the top 1% of the top 1% of high school football players will make it into the NFL.

If there were 1,093,234 high school players, only 6.5% of those players would play in college football. Then on top of that, only 1.6% of college players make it into the NFL.

Even after making it to the NFL, being a professional athlete on a highly-ranked team is a challenge for even the best athletes.

“For a young man, no matter how good, to ‘set his sights’ on making a career in the NFL without planning for an alternative way to make a living is as unrealistic as walking into a Las Vegas casino with $10 and ‘planning’ on a $50,000 winning.”

– Chuck Conners, former director of player personnel, Miami Dolphins.

Roughly 853 players make the NFL each year out of the population of 1.1 million high school football players. That gives a high school student a 0.00075% chance that they will go pro.

To put that minuscule percent into perspective, that is about the odds of getting struck by lightning.

How many college football players make it to the NFL

NFL Scouting

NFL scouting scans the entire process. Scouters track players from high school to the big draft day. Scouting is important because it is a vital part and reason for player development.

It helps turn up the best athletes in the country and shows players what they can do to improve to succeed.

NFL scouting has changed quite a bit over the years. The first NFL draft was conducted using a crowd-sourced list of layers to choose from.

Teams relied on only one or two main scouts that covered the entire country. moving forward a few years, scouts would spot talent with their eyes and a stopwatch.

“There’s not much breathing room for scouts when the season’s in full swing. Each one is gone a minimum of 200 days a year. It takes a certain type of individual and, more importantly, a certain type of understanding family.”

– Tom Boisture, former director of player personnel, New York Giants.

Scouting has clearly gotten a lot more complex and thorough. Teams rely on statistical data and incredibly advanced tracking tools.

These tools allow scouts to collect more information. They keep data on everything from body mass index to bench press repetitions.

Of course, while the way you play is very important to scouts, they still pay tremendous attention to an athlete’s work ethic and leadership.

What does it take to play for the NFL?

Training in High School

In order to play for the NFL an athlete has to start somewhere. If an athlete is wanting to play on a professional sports team, that probably means they have been playing that sport since they first learned how to walk and run.

Playing on the high school football team is of course necessary in order to increase experience and exposure.

College football coaches and even NFL recruiters might take note of how well an athlete plays in their high school years.

Recruiting can start as early as freshman or sophomore year, so make sure to get in the game as soon as possible.

While in high school it’s also a good idea to be involved in university football camps so that you can gain connections with university coaches.

Many athletes also make a highlight videos to catch the attention of college coaches.

Players will want to make sure to contact potential college coaches and register for the NCAA by their junior year to validate their status as amateur athletes.

After putting the work in, an athlete will have a decision to make and choose an offer at the end of their senior year.

A high school diploma is also required in order to be considered for playing in the NFL so it’s important to plan on graduating.

Related Reading: How Many High School Football Players Go D1 [Explained!]

93726064 l 1024x767 2

Training in College

In college, an athlete will want to attend every practice and work on their movement mechanics.

Players will want to work on their running, jumping, and direction-changing skills when training.

In the NFL draft players will need to compete in a 40-yard dash so it’s important that they practice their agility through aerobic exercises. Players will also want to work on their strength training.

While in college it’s important for a player to come to know and better understand their weaknesses.

It’s always a good idea to ask your coach or mentor how to improve your skill. Players will want to play college football for at least a couple of years before applying for the draft.

Once an athlete is three years graduated from High School, They are eligible to register for the draft.

They will need to begin registering for the regional starting combines where they will try out among other football players that are trying to enter the draft. They will need to attend the NFL National combine.

After one has completed all of these steps, one can now enter the NFL draft. From here the player must wait and see whether or not they ultimately qualified for a spot in the NFL.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *