Top 11 NFL Teams With The Most Homegrown Talent

Every young football fan often dreams of playing for their hometown team they've been growing up watching.

I remember as a child, I would play backyard football with the other neighborhood kids. We would have our Vikings jerseys on pretending to be our favorite players. 

High school is where the dream of even playing in the NFL or even college sputters out for most players.

Only 6.5% of high school ballplayers make it to the college ranks while an insanely low percentage of college players make it to the NFL at 1.6%.

Even if you make it to the NFL, you'll be lucky to have a career that's 3 years or more. It's an incredibly long and arduous road to the NFL and many who dream of making it won't even come close.

Now, what about those players who have had an interesting enough career path that they wind up playing for the team they grew up watching?

If you're looking for more odds, let's just say it's the fewest out of any I've shared so far.

Since NFL teams draft players, they don't have a say where they're going to play for the first part of their career, many won't come close to their old stomping grounds.

Players let go by teams are Free Agents and have more of an option of where they would like to play, but that's a two-way deal so it's still pretty rare for players to be able to play for their childhood team.

Today, however, we're going to be taking look at the players who are currently playing for their hometown team.

Note: I left out teams that are from the following states:

• California
• Florida 
• Texas

My reasoning behind this is these three states have some of the highest populations in the country. Along with that, these three states are heavy football powerhouses that produce the most NFL talent by far.

The NFL teams residing in these states have the biggest chance of securing the most homegrown talent which would make this list very dull.

Now, here are the top 11 teams with the most homegrown talent.

1. Cincinnati Bengals 

• Number of hometown players: 9
• Most notable: Joe Burrow

2. New York Jets

• Number of hometown players: 7
• Most notable: Greg Van Roten

3. Cleveland Browns

• Number of hometown players: 4
• Most notable: No Cleveland Brown from Ohio has not made sufficient enough impact to mention.

4. New York Giants

• Number of hometown players: 4
• Most notable: Saqoun Barkley

The Numbers are still skewed

Due to New York's high population along with Ohio's higher population and football history, the top 4 teams with homegrown NFL Talent make up only two states.

The next 6 teams are all tied with the same number of homegrown players.

5. Chicago Bears

• Number of hometown players: 3
• Most notable: Cole Kemt

6. Arizona Cardinals

• Number of hometown players: 3
• Most notable: Kristian Kirk

7. Buffalo Bills

• Number of hometown players: 3
• Most Notable: Jon Feliciano

8. Carolina Panthers

• Number of hometown players: 3
• Most Notable: All native Carolinians on the Panthers roster have yet to make an impact

9. Kansas City Chiefs

• Number of hometown players: 3
• Most Notable: Austin Blythe-Although he has just signed this offseason, he will look to make an impact for the Chiefs during the 2021 season.

10. Minnesota Vikings

• Number of hometown players: 3
• Most Notable: Adam Theilen

11. Atlanta Falcons

• Number of hometown players: 3
• Most Notable: Mike Davis

Hometown roots, small-time impact

Homegrown players don't always make a tremendous impact on their teams as they would like.

Homegrown talents such as Adam Theilen and Saqoun Barkley have become superstars for their local team, but many others find it hard to break into stardom.

Which teams have the fewest homegrown players?

There are 5 different teams tied for the lowest amount of homegrown talent. The Ravens, the Patriots, the Raiders, the Eagles, and the Seahawks have zero players born in their state.

There's always a chance

If you're a young football player who dreams of playing for your hometown team, it goes without saying it's near impossible.

But theirs still a chance.

This list goes to show that it is possible to one day play for your team even if you get drafted by a different team to begin your career.