Where do NFL Quarterbacks Come From?

So I was hanging out with my boy Jimmy James of Double Coverage yesterday and while stuck in DC traffic we got to talking about where NFL quarterbacks come from. Specifically, what conference produces the most NFL quarterbacks? An excellent question. So, I thought I'd do a little research on the matter. Now I realize that every five minutes teams are switching conferences these days. San Diego State in the Big East? Sure, why not. But for the purposes of his blog, we're just going to consider this year's conference alignment. We're going to break this down into two parts. Part 1, what conference has the most quarterbacks in the NFL right now (on NFL rosters, IR included). And then Part 2, which conference has accounted for the most games started at quarterback this season.

Photo Credit: theheismanwinners.com

So first, Part 1.

Division II

Great Northwest (1) - Central Washington: Jon Kitna.

Pennsylvania State (1) - California (PA): Josh Portis.

Lone Star (1) - Tarleton State: Richard Bartel.

Division I-AA (FCS)

Patriot League (1) - Fordham: John Skelton.

Colonial Athletic Association (1) - Delaware: Joe Flacco.

Ivy League (1) - Harvard: Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Big South (1) - Coastal Carolina: Tyler Thigpen.

Southland (1) - Sam Houston State: Josh McCown.

Ohio Valley (1) - Eastern Illinois: Tony Romo.

Photo Credit: sportsgrindent.com

SWAC (1) - Alabama State: Tarvaris Jackson.

Pioneer (1) - San Diego: Josh Johnson.

Division I-A (FBS)

Sun Belt (2) - Louisiana-Lafayette: Jake Delhomme. Florida Atlantic: Rusty Smith.

Big East (3) - Louisville: Chris Redman. Connecticut: Dan Orlovsky. Pittsburgh: Tyler Palko.

Mountain West (3) - Colorado State: Caleb Hanie. TCU: Andy Dalton. San Diego State: Kevin O'Connell.

Division I Independents (4) - BYU: Max Hall, John Beck. Notre Dame: Jimmy Clausen, Brady Quinn.

Conference USA (4) - Houston: Kevin Kolb. Tulane: J.P. Losman. UAB: Joe Webb. Marshall: Byron Leftwich.

MAC (4) - Toledo: Bruce Gradkowski. Central Michigan: Dan LeFevour. Eastern Michigan: Charlie Batch. Miami (OH): Ben Roethlisberger.

Photo Credit: examiner.com

WAC (7) - Idaho: Nathan Enderle. San Jose State: Jeff Garcia. Louisiana Tech: Luke McCown. Nevada: Colin Kaepernick. Fresno State: David Carr, Billy Volek, Tom Brandstater.

ACC (11) - Boston College: Matt Ryan, Matt Hasselbeck. Virginia Tech: Tyrod Taylor, Michael Vick. Duke: Thaddeus Lewis. Maryland: Shaun Hill. Virginia: Matt Schaub. North Carolina: T.J. Yates. Florida State: Christian Ponder. North Carolina State: Philip Rivers. Clemson: Charlie Whitehurst.

Big 12 (11) - Missouri: Brad Smith, Blaine Gabbert, Chase Daniel. Texas: Colt McCoy, Vince Young. Iowa State: Seneca Wallace, Sage Rosenfels. Texas A&M: Stephen McGee. Texas Tech: Graham Harrell. Oklahoma: Sam Bradford. Kansas State: Josh Freeman. 

Big 10 (12) - Michigan State: Drew Stanton, Brian Hoyer. Penn State: Kerry Collins. Purdue: Curtis Painter, Kyle Orton, Drew Brees. Iowa: Ricky Stanzi. Michigan: Chad Henne, Tom Brady. Ohio State: Terrelle Pryor. Northwestern: Mike Kafka. Wisconsin: Scott Tolzien.

Photo Credit: timesfreepress.com

SEC (12) - Alabama: John Parker Wilson, Greg McElroy. Auburn: Cam Newton, Jason Campbell. Vanderbilt: Jay Cutler. Florida: Tim Tebow, Rex Grossman. Georgia: Matthew Stafford. LSU: Matt Flynn. Arkansas: Ryan Mallett. Tennessee: Peyton Manning. Mississippi: Eli Manning.

Pac 12 (15) - Oregon State: Derek Anderson, Matt Moore. Cal: Aaron Rodgers, Kyle Boller. USC: Matt Leinart, Matt Cassel, Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer. Washington: Mark Brunell, Jake Locker. Oregon: Dennis Dixon, Kellen Clemens, A.J. Feeley. Utah: Alex Smith. Arizona State: Rudy Carpenter.

So the Pac 12 appears to be where it's at. As far as individual schools the one real surprise for me was Fresno State. I would not have guessed that they would be tied with the second most quarterbacks in the NFL behind USC's 4. Also surprising is the fact that there are three Division II guys on the list and zero quarterbacks from the following schools in the Top 25: Oklahoma State, Stanford, Boise State, South Carolina, Baylor, Nebraska, Southern Miss and West Virginia.

Anyhow, so that was Part 1, but now let's see what guys are actually getting on the field in Part 2. So far this season there have been 193 games meaning 386 starts. Here's how it breaks down by conference:

So as you can see, the SEC comes out on top once again in terms of overall starts despite Peyton Manning not having played a game yet this season while the ACC and Pac 12 have had the most different players start. Notice how high the FCS schools are on the list. Just goes to show you that apparently you can get your quarterbacks from anywhere.