Which State Produces the Best Players at Each Position – Wide Receiver

Welcome back to another edition of Which State Produces the Best Player at Each Position! The last article, we saw (SPOILERS, GO READ THE OTHER ARTICLES) Cinderella (Louisiana) usurp Georgia! Move aside Georgia, there’s a new sheriff in town. But wait…maybe Georgia regains the throne? Or maybe they wait another 40+ years to win a big game? Keep reading and find out!

To add numerical value to this argument, I pulled recruiting information using 247 Sports recruit ranking and Sports Reference from the last 5 years that have had draft eligible players (2015-2019). The top 50 players per position were added to the database based on the state in which they played High School football and a value was added to that state based off the number of stars they had (5 Stars = 5pts, 1 Star = 1 pt.). Then for the draft, I added ALL players drafted for that specific position and points were given based on which round they were drafted (1st Rd = 7 points ,7th Rd = 1pt). 

NOTE: 

– Athletes from Washington D.C. were put into the Virginia group.

– Athletes that may have transferred to a sports specialized school such as IMG, were included in the state of the specialized school. Too many transfers occur and it’s virtually impossible to determine why the transfer occurred. 

Before breaking down the data, a documentary from a certain sports channel (use your ESP to figure out the channel) that went into certain areas of Florida where a lot of athletes are produced. During this documentary they found that these athletes were so fast and agile due to chasing chickens in the mud. Now I don’t think every athlete from Florida is doing this, but based off of the TE article I would think that the areas that produce WRs would be very similar, and I was right (2 articles in a row). The question must be posed again though – what is it about coastal areas that produce the “skill” position players (skill positions are WR, RB, QB, and DB)? Number 1; according to a study in 2014 from Saturday Down South, football is followed like a religion in the southeast (almost the same exact states that are atop the lists for this article).

The more people watch college football, the more interested people are in it, which then increases the probability that you or someone you love will be afflicted by this adoration and play football. Second, most of these are coastal states, so my assumption is these beach bums are more likely to be in shape and play a “skill” position, such as wide receiver. So, let’s go checkout these numbers.

The top 5 states in terms of high school prospects (without population considered) are:

1. Florida (188)

2. Texas (180)

3. California (163)

4. Georgia (62)

5. Louisiana (60)

Georgia is back, the same big three are here and Louisiana is here to stay? Not so fast my friend, this ain’t over. Here are the top 5 states in terms of NFL draftees (without population considered):

1. Florida (89)

2. Texas (74)

3. Georgia (51)

4. California (50)

5. Pennsylvania (35)

Essentially the same except Pennsylvania snuck in like an adolescent to a peep show. Not sure they belong, but hey, I’m sure they don’t mind! The big three are still there and Georgia is sticking around like your in-law’s during the holidays. Will Georgia pick back up after a blip last week?

Georgia’s run is officially over and although Louisiana made a valiant effort to repeat (second place), the were defeated by Florida. Finally, a big 3 state has won a position. Going into this I would have guessed that Florida won WR (and DB) but would have NEVER guessed that this would be the first position that either of them, Texas or California won. However, just like taxes and having to poop after the first sip of coffee, it was inevitable that one of these states would win a position group. Also, special shout out to South Carolina (no bias here…maybe a little bias) but 6th place is the highest they have ranked and honestly, I couldn’t be prouder to see SC beat states like Texas and California. 

If you’re still reading this after my first ever poop joke (don’t fact-check me on that) I appreciate you. To quote the late great Bilbo Baggins, “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” And, as always, I hope you enjoyed!