Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, September 9, 2015
Last week, it was college football's turn to kick off its season. This week, it's the NFL's turn.
[ MORE: Polls: Pick Week 2 winners | Q&A: Wes Lunt | Big Ten Mailbag | Power rankings | Bowl projections | Player rankings ]
The 2015 season gets started Thursday night, when former Michigan quarterback and defending Super Bowl champ New England host Pittsburgh.
Before the season kicks off, I wanted to take a look at former Big Ten players listed on active rosters, according to NFL.com's team pages.
In all, there are 188 former Big Ten players, not including Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers names who played before their school entered the Big Ten.
Ohio State and Penn State lead the way with 25 players apiece, while Iowa and Wisconsin each have 22.
See the full breakdown below:
ILLINOIS (9)
Jeff Allen, OL, Kansas City Chiefs
Alan Ball, CB, Chicago Bears
Jeff Cumberland, TE, New York Jets
Vontae Davis, CB, Indianapolis Colts
Michael Hoomanawanui, TE, New England Patriots
Corey Liuget, DL, San Diego Chargers
Whitney Mercilus, LB, Houston Texans
Hugh Thornton, G, Indianapolis Colts
Tavon Wilson, DB, New England Patriots
***
INDIANA (6)
Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons
Cody Latimer, WR, Denver Broncos
Tracy Porter, CB, Chicago Bears
Bobby Richardson, DE, New Orleans Saints
Rodger Saffold, G, St. Louis Rams
Marcus Thigpen, WR, Buffalo Bills
***
IOWA (22)
Jonathan Babineaux, DT, Atlanta Falcons
Bryan Bulaga, T, Green Bay Packers
Scott Chandler, TE, New England Patriots
Adrian Clayborn, DE, Atlanta Falcons
Colin Cole, DT, Carolina Panthers
Mike Daniels, DT, Green Bay Packers
Carl Davis, DT, Baltimore Ravens
Andrew Donnal, T, St. Louis Rams
James Ferentz, C, Denver Broncos
C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE, Houston Texans
Bradley Fletcher, CB, New England Patriots
Charles Godfrey, CB, Atlanta Falcons
Chad Greenway, LB, Minnesota Vikings
Anthony Hitchens, LB, Dallas Cowboys
Micah Hyde, DB, Green Bay Packers
Karl Klug, DL, Tennessee Titans
Christian Kirksey, LB, Cleveland Browns
Brandon Myers, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Riley Reiff, T, Detroit Lions
Brandon Scherff, G/T, Washington Redskins
Matt Tobin, T, Philadelphia Eagles
Marshal Yanda, OL, Baltimore Ravens
***
MARYLAND (14 – 2 played in Big Ten)
Nolan Carroll, CB, Philadelphia Eagles*
Jon Condo, LS, Oakland Raiders*
Vernon Davis, TE, San Francisco 49ers*
Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings
A.J. Francis, DT, Miami Dolphins*
Darius Heyward-Bey, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers*
Erin Henderson, LB, New York Jets*
Shaun Hill, QB, Minnesota Vikings*
D'Qwell Jackson, LB, Indianapolis Colts*
Darius Kilgo, NT, Denver Broncos
Dexter McDougle, CB, New York Jets*
Torrey Smith, WR, San Francisco 49ers*
Randy Starks, DL, Cleveland Browns*
Josh Wilson, CB, Detroit Lions*
***
MICHIGAN (20)
Jason Avant, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots
Alan Branch, DL, New England Patriots
Frank Clark, DE, Seattle Seahawks
Kenny Demens, LB, Arizona Cardinals
Devin Funchess, WR, Carolina Panthers
Brandon Graham, LB, Philadelphia Eagles
Leon Hall, CB, Cincinnati Bengals
David Harris, LB, New York Jets
Chad Henne, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jordan Kovacs, S, Miami Dolphins
Taylor Lewan, T, Tennessee Titans
Mike Martin, DL, Tennessee Titans
David Molk, C, Philadelphia Eagles
Patrick Omameh, G, Chicago Bears
Denard Robinson, RB/WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jake Ryan, LB, Green Bay Packers
Michael Schofield, T, Denver Broncos
LaMarr Woodley, LB, Arizona Cardinals
Charles Woodson, S, Oakland Raiders
***
MICHIGAN STATE (16)
Garrett Celek, TE, San Francisco 49ers
Kirk Cousins, QB, Washington Redskins
Kellen Davis, TE, New York Jets
Darqueze Dennard, CB, Cincinnati Bengals
Bennie Fowler, WR, Denver Broncos
William Gholston, DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brian Hoyer, QB, Houston Texans
Jeremy Langford, RB, Chicago Bears
Tony Lippett, CB, Miami Dolphins
Keshawn Martin, WR, Houston Texans
Keith Mumphery, WR, Houston Texans
Domata Peko, DT, Cincinnati Bengals
Trenton Robinson, S, Washington Redskins
Dion Sims, TE, Miami Dolphins
Drew Stanton, QB, Arizona Cardinals
Trae Waynes, CB, Minnesota Vikings
* Le'Veon Bell (Pittsburgh) is suspended to open the season.
***
MINNESOTA (8)
Eric Decker, WR, New York Jets
MarQueis Gray, TE, Buffalo Bills
Ra'Shede Hageman, DT, Atlanta Falcons
Marcus Sherels, CB, Minnesota Vikings
Matt Spaeth, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Brock Vereen, S, Chicago Bears
Maxx Williams, TE, Baltimore Ravens
Damien Wilson, LB, Dallas Cowboys
***
NEBRASKA (21 – 14 played in Big Ten)
Ameer Abdullah, RB, Detroit Lions
Prince Amukamara, CB, New York Giants
Larry Asante, S, Oakland Raiders*
Zack Bowman, CB, Miami Dolphins*
Josh Brown, K, New York Giants*
Rex Burkhead, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Will Compton, LB, Washington Redskins
Jared Crick, DL, Houston Texans
Lavonte David, LB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Quincy Enunwa, WR, New York Jets
Randy Gregory, DE, Dallas Cowboys
Roy Helu, RB, Oakland Raiders*
Richie Incognito, G, Buffalo Bills*
Sam Koch, P, Baltimore Ravens
Spencer Long, G, Washington Redskins
Eric Martin, LB, New England Patriots
Brent Qvale, T , New York Jets
Jeremiah Sirles, G/T, Minnesota Vikings
Matt Slauson, G, Chicago Bears*
Daimion Stafford, S, Tennessee Titans
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Miami Dolphins*
***
NORTHWESTERN (5)
Corbin Bryant, DT, Buffalo Bills
Ibraheim Campbell, CB, Cleveland Browns
Sherrick McManis, CB, Chicago Bears
Trevor Siemian, QB, Denver Broncos
Zach Strief, T, New Orleans Saints
***
OHIO STATE (25)
Will Allen, S, Pittsburgh Steelers
Michael Bennett, DT, Jacksonville Jaguars
Philly Brown, WR, Carolina Panthers
Kurt Coleman, S, Carolina Panthers
Nate Ebner, DB, New England Patriots
Ted Ginn Jr., WR, Carolina Panthers
Carlos Hyde, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Johnathan Hankins, DT, New York Giants
Brian Hartline, WR, Cleveland Browns
A.J. Hawk, LB, Cincinnati Bengals
Cameron Heyward, DE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Malcolm Jenkins, S, Philadelphia Eagles
James Laurinaitis, LB, St. Louis Rams
Corey Linsley, C, Green Bay Packers
Nick Mangold, C, New York Jets
Jake McQuaide, LS, St. Louis Rams
Jack Mewhort, OL, Indianapolis Colts
Andrew Norwell, G, Carolina Panthers
Mike Nugent, K, Cincinnati Bengals
Terrelle Pryor, WR, Cleveland Browns
Bradley Roby, CB, Denver Broncos
Ryan Shazier, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
John Simon, LB, Houston Texans
Devin Smith, WR, New York Jets
Donte Whitner, DB, Cleveland Browns
***
PENN STATE (25)
Adrian Amos, S, Chicago Bears
NaVorro Bowman, LB, San Francisco 49ers
Jack Crawford, DT, Dallas Cowboys
Garry Gilliam, T, Seattle Seahawks
Robbie Gould, K, Chicago Bears
Tamba Hali, LB, Kansas City Chiefs
Jordan Hill, DT, Seattle Seahawks
Gerald Hodges, LB, Minnesota Vikings
Jesse James, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers
DaQuan Jones, DL, Tennessee Titans
Sean Lee, LB, Dallas Cowboys
Michael Mauti, LB, New Orleans Saints
Matt McGloin, QB, Oakland Raiders
Jordan Norwood, WR, Denver Broncos
Jared Odrick, DL, Jacksonville Jaguars
Paul Posluszny, LB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Andrew Quarless, TE, Green Bay Packers
Allen Robinson, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
A.Q. Shipley, C/G, Arizona Cardinals
Donovan Smith, T, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Nate Stupar, LB, Atlanta Falcons
Johnnie Troutman, G, San Diego Chargers
John Urschel, OL, Baltimore Ravens
Cameron Wake, DE, Miami Dolphins
Stefen Wisniewski, C, Jacksonville Jaguars
***
PURDUE (12)
Ricardo Allen, CB, Atlanta Falcons
Cliff Avril, DE, Seattle Seahawks
Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
Bruce Gaston, DT, Green Bay Packers
Gabe Holmes, TE, Oakland Raiders
Dennis Kelly, T, Philadelphia Eagles
Ryan Kerrigan, LB, Washington Redskins
Mike Neal, LB, Green Bay Packers
Rob Ninkovich, DE, New England Patriots
Kevin Pamphile, T, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Ryan Russell, DE, Dallas Cowboys
Kawann Short, DT, Carolina Panthers
***
RUTGERS (16 – 2 played in Big Ten)
Kenny Britt, WR, St. Louis Rams*
Michael Burton, FB, Detroit Lions
Brandon Coleman, WR, New Orleans Saints*
Marcus Cooper, DB, Kansas City Chiefs*
Andrew DePaola, LB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers*
Jonathan Freeny, LB New England Patriots*
Duron Harmon, DB, New England Patriots*
Clark Harris, LB, Cincinnati Bengals*
George Johnson, DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers*
Tyler Kroft, TE, Cincinnati Bengals
Devin McCourty, DB, New England Patriots*
Jason McCourty, CB, Tennessee Titans*
Logan Ryan, CB, New England Patriots*
Mohamed Sanu, WR, Cincinnati Bengals*
Timothy Wright, TE, Detroit Lions*
Jeremy Zuttah, OL, Baltimore Ravens*
***
WISCONSIN (22)
Beau Allen, DT, Philadelphia Eagles
Jonathan Casillas, LB, New York Giants
Owen Daniels, TE, Denver Broncos
Travis Frederick, C, Dallas Cowboys
Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego Chargers
Garrett Graham, TE, Houston Texans
Rob Havenstein, T, St. Louis Rams
Nick Hayden, DT, Dallas Cowboys
Lance Kendricks, TE, St. Louis Rams
DeAndre Levy, LB, Detroit Lions
Chris Maragos, S, Philadelphia Eagles
Brad Nortman, P, Carolina Panthers
O'Brien Schofield, LB, Atlanta Falcons
Dezmen Southward, CB, Atlanta Falcons
Joe Thomas, OL, Cleveland Browns
Scott Tolzien, QB, Green Bay Packers
Kraig Urbik, G, Buffalo Bills
Rick Wagner, OL, Baltimore Ravens
J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans
James White, RB, New England Patriots
Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks
Kevin Zeitler, G, Cincinnati Bengals
* — denotes a player who did not play in the Big Ten.
