Where does the football talent come from?

[Cheesesteak]

Where does the talent come from? Part I

Jeremy Patterson - SuperPrep.com - Apr 30, 2006

Every year it seems that the Scout.com national top 100 list is littered with players from states like Texas, Florida, California, Georgia and Ohio. While states such as Alaska, the Dakota’s, Wyoming or Montana virtually never have a player make the list. In part I of our “Where does the talent come from?” we break down the top 100 players taken in the 2006 NFL draft and what state they played their high school football in.

Every year fans of college football and the NFL alike, both fixate their eyes upon the NFL draft. Whether it is to follow the stars of their favorite college program or keep up with how their favorite NFL team is doing in the draft, it always stirs a lot of interest.
It’s easy to look up and down the lists and see what college programs these stars hail from. However, here at Scout.com our bread and butter is about following these star athletes through their high school career and into college. Each summer we release our national top 100 recruiting rankings and revise it throughout the season as players stock rise and fall, until that class signs on signing day.

Every year it seems that the list is littered with players from states like Texas, Florida, California, Georgia and Ohio. While states such as Alaska, the Dakota’s, Wyoming or Montana virtually never have a player make the list. In part I of our “Where does the talent come from?” we break down the top 100 players taken in the 2006 NFL draft and what state they played their high school football in.

There’s probably not much suspense in which states ranked 1-3 in terms of top 100 draft selections, but what might surprise is the rest of the top ten, particularly one state that rounds out the top five.

Florida and Texas lead the way in terms of top 100 selections with 13 a piece. California comes in with the third most selections with 12 players selected among the top 100 picks in the draft. Ok, not much suspense there, so who ranks fourth?

Did you guess Georgia? Pennsylvania? Virginia? If you guessed any of those, you’d be wrong. Actually, there was a tie for the fourth most selections between Ohio and Alabama, who each produced six selections to round out the top five.

There was also a tie with Virginia and Louisiana, who each produced five top 100 draft selections. Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina all produced four each to round out the top 10 states that produced top 100 draft selections.

Other states that produced top 100 picks were: New York, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado and Minnesota each produced two. Illinois, North Dakota, Kansas, Washington D.C., Utah, Tennessee, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Maryland, Arkansas, Missouri and Pennsylvania all produced one each.

Also here is a quick break down of the first round selections only. Of the 32 first round selections six played their high school football in the state of Florida, showing that not only is the Sunshine State deep, but it’s top heavy as well. Four first rounders played their high school football in Ohio, while California and Texas each had three first round selections. South Carolina and North Carolina produced two first round selections each while, New York, Utah, Kansas, Alabama, South Dakota, New Jersey, Minnesota, Virginia, Arkansas and Washington D.C. all each produced one a piece.

Tomorrow Scout.com will break down the entire draft through all 255 selections. What state will produce the most 2006 draftees? Will the production of Alabama and Indiana continue? These questions and more will be answered in tomorrow’s piece.