FSU football is a program that has historically produced more NFL talent than the majority of colleges, despite being around for about half the time. FSU has too many Pro Bowl players to mention and several members in the NFL Hall of Fame.
However, they haven’t had as many players drafted as usual over the past few years, aside from the 2024 NFL Draft that saw 10 Noles drafted. They had two players drafted in 2019, one in 2020, four in 2021, one in 2022, one in 2023, and two in 2025.
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FSU routinely used to have six or more players drafted every year. Despite the downturn over the last, FSU still is among the colleges with the most former players listed among the NFL Top 100:
The NFL’s Top 100 Players By College 🏈 pic.twitter.com/2xt0CcDAav
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) September 4, 2025
Here’s where the former FSU players stacked up:
- Josh Sweat at No. 95
- Jalen Ramsey at No. 66
- Derwin James at No. 54
- Jared Verse at No. 53
It usually takes a couple of years before players ascend to heights great enough to make this list. Sweat, Ramsey, and James all played for and were recruited by Jimbo Fisher. Verse is the only player recruited by Mike Norvell, but he made the list after only playing his rookie season in the NFL.
It’s more than any other school in the ACC. I find it ironic that Florida only has one player listed and Miami doesn’t have a single player among the top 100 players in the NFL. Even Wake Forest has at least one player on the list.
Sweat, Ramsey, and James will likely age out over the next couple of seasons. It’ll be interesting to see if any other Noles recently drafted can find their way onto the list.