Miami, USC cranking out NFL players

Here are the top 10 college football factories, and some of their raw NFL placement numbers …

1. Miami

Draft picks since 1999: 65

First-round picks:: 27

Highlights: RB Clinton Portis, RB Edgerrin James, WR Reggie Wayne, WR Santana Moss, S Ed Reed, WR Andre Johnson, RB Willis McGahee, TE Jeremy Shockey, TE Kellen Winslow, DT Vince Wilfork, LB Jonathan Vilma, LB D.J. Williams, S Sean Taylor, RB Frank Gore

Lowlights: CB Mike Rumph, DE Jerome McDougle, DT Damione Lewis, DT William Joseph, DE Michael Boireau, WR Roscoe Parrish, WR Sinorice Moss

Skinny: The “elite” talent has waned recently, as Florida, Texas and USC have begun snatching away players Miami would have developed and sent to the NFL seven or eight years ago. However, the Hurricanes’ cache of players in the first half of this decade was unmatched. Miami’s 27 first-round picks in the past 10 years nearly match the total NFL draft picks that perennial football factories such as Auburn and Alabama produced in the same time span. The only question is whether Miami’s class from 1999-2008 is the greatest 10-year haul of talent in the history of college football.

“I don’t know how you would argue it,” Portis said. “The teams in [2000 and 2001] were basically NFL teams. You had Pro Bowlers rooming with other Pro Bowlers. Hell, some of the meeting rooms, if you took a picture, everyone in it would have been a first- or second-round pick. … You raised your game to stay on the field. You basically had to be an NFL [talent] if you were going to play.”

Click here for the rest of the rankings.