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Which states have produced the most college football All-Americans from 2015-19?

By John Scimeca

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 13: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers reacts to a touchdown against Clemson Tigers during the third quarter in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 13: Joe Burrow #9 of the LSU Tigers reacts to a touchdown against Clemson Tigers during the third quarter in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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LSU’s Joe Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, is one of eight Ohio natives (the fourth highest mark for a state) to receive All-America honors since 2015. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
LSU’s Joe Burrow, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner, is one of eight Ohio natives (the fourth highest mark for a state) to receive All-America honors since 2015. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Where are the most fertile college football recruiting grounds? Check out this analysis of the past five years’ All-Americans and their home states.

Looking to determine the most fertile recruiting grounds for elite college football players? Forget the five-star high school recruiting rankings; instead, check out this list of the home states of every All-American since 2015.

Some eventual stars grow and develop after high school and are not accounted for in the traditional high school recruiting rankings. Sometimes, too, a highly touted five-star recruit may not pan out at the college level. The weight of expectations, the increased competition, and the different nature of playing at the top level of NCAA football can affect a former high school star in different ways.

So, to truly determine which areas of the country produce the best football players, shouldn’t we retrospectively look at the college football players with the most accolades instead of the most highly praised high school recruits?

The best way, then, to determine which U.S. states produce the best college football talent is to examine a list of the past decade’s first-team All-America honorees. With such a list, there is no preference given to the more glamorous positions — there is one quarterback and five offensive linemen per year, for example. Punters and kickers are included among the list of defensive ends and wide receivers, too.

It is sometimes difficult to determine one place that deserves to claim an All-American football player is its native son. Take the case of former LSU star Grant Delpit, whose family moved from New Orleans to the Houston area after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Other players have transferred during high school or have moved throughout their lives. In any case, the effort was made to determine where a player truly grew up or spent most of his childhood.

Read on to view the list of this past half-decade’s All-America winners by state or hometown.

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