When selecting college football’s biggest stars, Detroit has led the way
When the first NFL Draft was held in 1936, the first player selected was 1935 Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger.
Through the years, selecting the winners of college football’s top individual award has been a popular early-round
choice. Below we highlight the teams that have selected the most Heisman winners in the NFL Draft.
| Current NFL Franchises | Number of Heisman Winners | Players and the year they were drafted |
| Detroit Lions | 10 | Larry Kelley, Yale, 1937 – Clint Frank, Yale 1938 – Frank Sinkwich, Georgia, 1943 – Glenn Davis, Army, 1947 – Leon Hart, Notre Dame, 1950 – Howard Cassady, Ohio State, 1956 – Steve Owens, Oklahoma, 1970 – Billy Sims, Oklahoma 1980 – Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1989 – Andre Ware, Houston, 1990 |
| Cleveland/LA/St. Louis Rams | 9 | Les Horvath, Ohio State, 1943, Billy Cannon, LSU, 1960 – Terry Baker, Oregon State, 1963 – , Mike Garrett, USC, 1966 – Gary Beban, UCLA, 1968 – John Cappalletti, Penn State, 1974 – Doug Flutie, Boston College, 1985 – Eric Crouch, Nebraska, 2002 – Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, 2010 |
| Houston Oilers Tennessee Titans | 6 | Billy Cannon, LSU, 1960, Earl Campbell, Texas, 1978, Mike Rozier, Nebraska, 1984 – Eddie George, Ohio State 1996, Marcus Mariota, Oregon, 2014, Derrick Henry 2016 |
| Washington Redskins | 5 | Vick Janowicz, Ohio State, 1952 – Joe Bellino, Navy, 1961 – Ernie Davis, Syracuse, 1963 – Desmond Howard, Washington, 1992, Robert Griffin III, Baylor, 2012 |
| Chicago Bears | 4 | Tom Harmon, Michigan, 1941 – Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame, 1949 – Dick Kazmaier, Princeton, 1952 – Rashaan Salaam, Colorado 1995 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4 | George Rogers, South Carolina, 1981 – Danny Wuerffel, Florida, 1997 – Ricky Williams, Texas, 1999 – Reggie Bush, USC, 2006 |
| Oakland/LA Raiders | 4 | Marcus Allen, USC, 1982 – Bo Jackson, Auburn, 1988 – Tim Brown Notre Dame, 1988, Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1998, |
| Cleveland Browns | 3 | Charles White, USC, 1980 – Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M 2014, Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma, 2017 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 3 | Roger Staubach, Navy, 1964 – Tony Dorsett, Pitt, 1977 – Herschel Walker, Georgia, 1985 |
| Green Bay Packers | 3 | Bruce Smith, Minnesota, 1942 – Paul Hornung Notre Dame, 1957 – Ty Detmer, BYU, 1992 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 | Jay Berwanger, Chicago, 1936, Davey O’Brien, TCU, 1939, John Huarte, Notre Dame, 1965 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3 | Bo Jackson, Auburn 1986 – Vinny Testaverde, Miami 1987, Jameis Winston, FSU, 2013 |
| NFL Franchise | Number of Heisman Winners | Players and the year they were drafted |
| Arizona, St. Louis, Chicago Cardinals | 2 | John David Crow, Texas A&M, 1958 – Matt Leinart, USC, 2004, Kyler Murray, Oklahoma 2019 |
| Carolina Panthers | 2 | Chris Weinke, FSU, 2001, Cam Newton, Auburn, 2011 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 2 | Archie Griffin, Ohio State, 1976 – Carson Palmer, USC, 2003 |
| Indianapolis/Baltimore Colts | 2 | Billy Vessels, Oklahoma, 1953 – Alan Ameche, Wisconsin, 1955 |
| New England Patriots | 2 | Joe Bellino, Navy, 1961 – Jim Plunkett, Stanford, 1971 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | Doc Blanchard, Army, 1946, Johnny Lattner, Notre Dame, 954 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 | Bo Jackson, Auburn 1986 – Vinny Testaverde, Miami 1987, Jameis Winston 2014 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 1 | Pat Sullivan, Auburn, 1972 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 1 | Troy Smith, Ohio State, 2007 |
| Denver Broncos | 1 | Tim Tebow, Florida, 2010 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 1 | Gino Torretta, Miami, 1993 |
| San Diego Chargers | 1 | Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska, 1973 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 1 | Steve Spurrier, Florida, 1967 |
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