Big 12 Athletes in the NFL

The Big 12 currently has 202 players listed by the NFL Players union. Here are some interesting facts about the players and the Big 12 schools the represent.

Nebraska leads the Big 12 with a total of 37 players in the NFL. Texas A&M and Kansas State are next with 25 each. Then Oklahoma at 24 and Texas at 22. Colorado has 21 players and then there is a big drop off to Oklahoma State at 11. Kansas, Missouri and Iowa State are tied for the fewest at 6 each. Here is the breakdown:

Nebraska 37
Texas A&M 25
Kansas State 25
Oklahoma 24
Texas 22
Colorado 21
Oklahoma State 11
Texas Tech 10
Baylor 8
Missouri 6
Iowa State 6
Kansas 6

I am a little surprised that Texas and Oklahoma are not higher on the list considering the level of play over the past several years at each of those schools.

The Big 12 is known for tough defenses and of the 202 players, 54% are on the Defensive side of the ball while the Offense accounts for 41% and Special Teams 4%. On Defense, the Defensive Line and Defensive backs account for 75% of the players with Linebackers the other 25%.

DL 41
LB 28
DB 41

Offensively, the O-Line accounts for 42% of the players currently active.

OL 35
QB 6
RB 15
WR 18
TE 9

The Big 12 has 9 Special Teams players as well.

Interesting facts:

Defense and Offensive Line account for 84% of all Nebraska players in the NFL

Four Teams are split evenly between offense and defense: Kansas State, Texas, Baylor and Missouri

Three teams are heavily weighted to one side of the ball: Oklahoma – 67% Defense, Iowa State – 67% Defense and Kansas – 67% Offense

25% of Baylors players are Special Teams players.

Schools with strong positional representation:

Kansas State – DB
Texas – DL
Texas A&M – DL
Nebraska – DB
Oklahoma – DB

Quarterbacks: The Big 12 only has 6 Quarterbacks in the NFL and Chris Simms is the only starting Quarterback at this time.