The Reddit user “JPAnalyst” did some serious research to dive deep into how college football teams produce NFL talent.
The user utilized expected approximate value, a metric that measures how valuable a player should be based on draft position, and approximate value, a measurement of how valuable they really are, to show who has produced the best picks based on value in when they were selected. The user figured where each school with 20+ drafted players from 2011-20 stacked up in player performance relative to draft spot and shared his findings here, including a chart to break it all down.
Of the 44 schools with 20 or more draftees from 2011-20, Pitt ranked fifth, behind only Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Boston College, and LSU, and second of nine ACC schools.
Much of Pitt’s value can be credited to Aaron Donald. He led the NFL in approximate value last season, and although he was drafted 13th overall, Donald has the highest career approximate value of the 2014 NFL Draft class by a wide margin.