10 College Programs to Watch in the NFL in 2026
The NFL season is finally here. And if you are a college football fan who keeps following your guys once they get to Sundays, there is plenty to watch in 2026.
Throughout the offseason, Alumni Tracker dug into some of the biggest college-to-NFL debates.
Who is QBU? WRU? RBU? DBU? What about Defense U?
Some of the results were exactly what you would expect. Alabama showed up everywhere. Ohio State’s receivers put up huge numbers. Oklahoma continued to make a strong QBU case.
Others were a little more interesting.
Oregon led every college in NFL passing yards last season. Michigan’s defensive numbers deserve more attention. Texas has a young group that feels like it could be just getting started.
Now we get to see what happens next.
Using our 2025 NFL data, five-year trends from the Alumni Tracker U-series, current NFL stars and a new rookie class entering the league, here are 10 college programs worth keeping an eye on during the 2026 NFL season.
One important note: This isn’t a 1-through-10 ranking.
Consider it our NFL preseason watchlist — 10 schools with alumni groups that give college football fans a reason to keep watching on Sundays.
Alabama
Where else could we start?
If there was one takeaway from our U-series, it was just how often Alabama appeared near the top.
Start at running back.
Alabama alumni scored 265 rushing touchdowns over the last five NFL seasons, comfortably the most of any college program. In 2025 alone, former Crimson Tide players combined for 4,600 rushing yards.
Then flip over to defense.
Alabama led all colleges in NFL interceptions in each of the past five seasons. Last year, Tide alumni finished with 20 interceptions and 138 passes defended, both No. 1 among colleges.
Oh, and they can rush the passer, too.
Alabama produced 313 NFL sacks from 2021-25, edging Ohio State for the most in our Defense U comparison.
RBU? DBU? Defense U?
Alabama has a legitimate argument in all three conversations.
What we’re watching: Can anybody start closing the gap in 2026?
Ohio State
If Alabama kept showing up on our defensive leaderboards, Ohio State was not far behind.
But let’s start with the receivers.
Buckeye alumni combined for 6,412 NFL receiving yards and 41 receiving touchdowns in 2025. Both numbers led all college programs.
That alone puts Ohio State squarely in the WRU conversation.
The defensive side might be even more interesting heading into this season.
Ohio State alumni have accumulated 301 NFL sacks over the past five years, just 12 behind Alabama.
And reinforcements have arrived.
NFL.com’s preseason projection of rookies expected to make the biggest Year 1 impact included three former Buckeye defenders: Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs and Kayden McDonald.
That’s quite a group to add to an NFL alumni base that was already producing.
What we’re watching: Ohio State already has the receivers. Could the next wave of Buckeye defenders make just as much noise?
Oregon
Here’s one that caught our attention while putting together the QBU numbers.
No college produced more NFL passing yards in 2025 than Oregon.
Ducks quarterbacks combined for 9,353 yards, finishing ahead of Oklahoma, USC, California and Alabama.
The reason isn’t difficult to find.
Bo Nix accounted for 30 total touchdowns last season. Justin Herbert had 28.
Two former Oregon quarterbacks. Two NFL starters. Nearly 9,400 combined passing yards from Ducks alumni.
Oregon doesn’t have the same five-year touchdown résumé that Oklahoma does, so we aren’t handing over the QBU title just yet.
Still, heading into 2026, the Ducks absolutely belong in the conversation.
What we’re watching: Can Herbert and Nix keep Oregon atop the NFL passing-yard leaderboard by college?
Oklahoma
Speaking of QBU…
Oklahoma’s recent run is pretty ridiculous.
Sooners quarterbacks led every college program in NFL passing touchdowns in four of the past five seasons:
2025 — 64
2024 — 87
2023 — 68
2021 — 59
Oklahoma also finished second behind Oregon with 8,816 passing yards in 2025.
But there is another part of the Sooners’ NFL résumé that doesn’t get talked about nearly as much:
Oklahoma alumni scored 183 rushing touchdowns from 2021-25, second only to Alabama.
So yes, Baker Mayfield and Jalen Hurts make the QBU discussion fun. But the Sooners’ NFL offensive footprint goes beyond quarterback.
What we’re watching: Another year atop the passing-TD standings would only strengthen Oklahoma’s QBU argument.
Georgia
Georgia might be the easiest program on this list to overlook because there isn’t one statistic that immediately defines the Bulldogs.
Then you start adding everything together.
Georgia alumni finished second among colleges with 3,358 NFL rushing yards last season.
Meanwhile, Bulldog defenders have produced 226.5 sacks over the past five years, putting Georgia among the best pass-rush-producing schools in the league.
And then there are the individual stars.
George Pickens finished 2025 with 1,429 receiving yards.
And another Bulldog is entering the league this season, with CJ Allen appearing on NFL.com’s list of projected high-impact rookies.
Georgia might not own one of our U-titles.
They just seem to have NFL players everywhere.
What we’re watching: Is Georgia quietly building one of the most complete alumni groups in the league?
Texas
We highlighted Texas recently, and there is a reason.
Start with Bijan Robinson.
The former Longhorn put together 1,478 rushing yards, 820 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns in 2025.
That’s 2,298 yards from scrimmage.
One player.
Beyond Robinson, Xavier Worthy gives Texas another young weapon on offense, while a pair of former Longhorns made an impact getting after the quarterback.
Moro Ojomo — 6 sacks
Joseph Ossai — 5 sacks
Texas doesn’t have the five-year NFL résumé of Alabama or Ohio State yet. But that’s part of what makes this group interesting: much of the Longhorns’ NFL talent is still young.
What we’re watching: How high can Texas climb if this group takes another step?
LSU
You can’t have a college-to-NFL conversation for very long without LSU showing up.
The Tigers have long been associated with elite receivers and defensive backs, and our numbers continue to support the latter.
LSU alumni recorded 12 interceptions and 73 passes defended in 2025.
This wasn’t a one-year spike, either. LSU repeatedly appeared near the top of our five-year interception data, consistently chasing Alabama in the DBU conversation.
Now, another defensive back joins the group.
Former LSU corner Mansoor Delane was among NFL.com’s projected top Year 1 impact rookies entering the season.
New year. Another LSU defensive back to watch on Sundays.
Seems familiar.
What we’re watching: Can LSU make a run at Alabama in the DBU numbers?
Michigan
Michigan might have produced one of the biggest surprises of our offseason research.
We knew the Wolverines had plenty of NFL defenders. Even so, the totals were impressive: Michigan alumni recorded 246 sacks over the last five NFL seasons, trailing only Alabama and Ohio State.
Then came 2025:
17 interceptions — No. 2 among colleges
96 passes defended — No. 3
That’s production in the secondary and up front.
Michigan doesn’t always get mentioned first when people start arguing about Defense U or DBU.
Maybe it should.
What we’re watching: Is Michigan’s NFL defensive pipeline better than it gets credit for?
USC
USC’s quarterback numbers deserve a little more attention.
Trojan alumni combined for 7,990 NFL passing yards in 2025, third among all colleges behind Oregon and Oklahoma.
Sam Darnold and Caleb Williams gave USC something relatively few programs can claim: multiple former quarterbacks producing significant numbers in NFL starting roles at the same time.
The production wasn’t limited to quarterback, either. Trojan alumni also surpassed 4,100 receiving yards last season.
For a program traditionally associated with offensive stars, that sounds about right.
What we’re watching: Can USC push Oregon and Oklahoma at the top of the NFL passing leaderboard?
Texas A&M
Texas A&M is probably the most forward-looking selection on our list.
For starters, the existing numbers are already good. Aggie alumni produced 203.5 NFL sacks from 2021-25, putting Texas A&M firmly among the country’s stronger pass-rush pipelines.
But it’s the new group that makes 2026 especially interesting.
NFL.com’s rookie impact list included two former Aggies:
Cashius Howell
Chase Bisontis
Howell gives Texas A&M another young pass rusher entering the league, while Bisontis brings an offensive-line element to a school whose recent Alumni Tracker numbers have leaned heavily toward defense.
This is one of those programs that could look much different on our leaderboards a year from now.
What we’re watching: Could Texas A&M be one of the biggest NFL alumni risers of 2026?
Don’t Forget About the Rookies
Those 10 programs aren’t the entire story.
NFL.com’s list of projected Year 1 impact rookies also featured players from Notre Dame, Miami, Utah, Clemson, Iowa and several other programs.
And that’s where these rankings and debates can change quickly.
A rookie becomes an immediate starter.
A second-year player breaks out.
A quarterback makes a leap.
Suddenly a program that wasn’t near the top of an Alumni Tracker leaderboard starts showing up every week.
Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love, for example, enters the league as the No. 3 overall pick and one of the most intriguing rookie running backs to follow. Miami sends Rueben Bain Jr. into the NFL after a dominant college career. Clemson adds first-round offensive tackle Blake Miller to its alumni group.
Those players may not make their schools part of this initial 10, but they could certainly change the conversation.
Now We Get Some New Numbers
This is the part we’ve been waiting for.
All offseason, we’ve been looking backward.
Five years of rushing touchdowns helped make the RBU case. Interceptions shaped the DBU debate. Passing yards and touchdowns gave us QBU. Sacks gave us another way to look at Defense U.
Those numbers gave us a baseline.
Now the 2026 season gets to change it.
Maybe Alabama adds another year to its ridiculous DBU run.
Ohio State could take over the five-year sack lead.
Or maybe a school we haven’t talked enough about yet forces its way onto the leaderboard.
Starting this week, we’ll find out.
Which college program will make the biggest impact on Sundays in 2026?