Year | Name | Position | College | NFL team | Notes |
1936 | Riley Smith | Quarterback | Alabama | Boston Redskins | College Football Hall of Fame |
1937 | Ed Goddard | Back | Washington State | Brooklyn Dodgers | |
1938 | Jim McDonald | Back | Ohio State | Philadelphia Eagles | |
1939 | Sid Luckman‡ | Quarterback | Columbia | Chicago Bears | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1940 | George McAfee‡ | Halfback | Duke | Philadelphia Eagles | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1941 | John Kimbrough | Fullback | Texas A&M | Chicago Cardinals | College Football Hall of Fame |
1942 | Jack Wilson | Halfback | Baylor | Cleveland Rams | Appeared in only 10 NFL games, 3 as a starter |
1943 | Joe Muha | Fullback | VMI | Philadelphia Eagles | 2x All-Pro |
1944 | Pat Harder* | Fullback | Wisconsin | Chicago Cardinals | 3× first-team All-Pro; College Football Hall of Fame |
1945 | Paul Duhart | Back | Florida | Pittsburgh Steelers | Appeared in only 13 NFL games, 7 as a starter |
1946 | Dub Jones* | Halfback | LSU | Chicago Cardinals | 2× AAFC champion, 3× NFL champion |
1947 | Glenn Davis* | Halfback | Army | Detroit Lions | Heisman Trophy (1946) |
1948 | Skip Minisi | Halfback | Penn | New York Giants | College Football Hall of Fame |
1949 | John Rauch | Quarterback | Georgia | Detroit Lions | College Football Hall of Fame |
1950 | Adrian Burk* | Quarterback | Baylor | Baltimore Colts | 2× Pro Bowl |
1951 | Bob Williams | Quarterback | Notre Dame | Chicago Bears | College Football Hall of Fame |
1952 | Les Richter‡ | Linebacker | California | New York Yanks | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1953 | Billy Vessels | Halfback | Oklahoma | Baltimore Colts | Heisman Trophy (1952) |
1954 | Lamar McHan | Quarterback | Arkansas | Chicago Cardinals | |
1955 | Max Boydston | End | Oklahoma | Chicago Cardinals | |
1956 | Earl Morrall* | Quarterback | Michigan State | San Francisco 49ers | 3× Super Bowl champion, NFL Most Valuable Player (1968) |
1957 | Jon Arnett* | Halfback | USC | Los Angeles Rams | College Football Hall of Fame; 5× Pro Bowl |
1958 | John David Crow* | Halfback | Texas A&M | Chicago Cardinals | Heisman Trophy (1957) |
1959 | Dick Bass* | Fullback | Pacific Tigers | Los Angeles Rams | 3× Pro Bowl |
1960 | George Izo | Quarterback | Notre Dame | St. Louis Cardinals | |
1961 | Norm Snead* | Quarterback | Wake Forest | Washington Redskins | 4× Pro Bowl |
1962 | Roman Gabriel | Quarterback | NC State | Los Angeles Rams | College Football Hall of Fame; 4× Pro Bowl, NFL Most Valuable Player (1969) |
1963 | Jerry Stovall* | Defensive back | LSU | St. Louis Cardinals | 3× Pro Bowl |
1964 | Bob Brown‡ | Offensive tackle | Nebraska | Philadelphia Eagles | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1965 | Ken Willard* | Fullback | North Carolina | San Francisco 49ers | 4× Pro Bowl |
1966 | Tom Mack‡ | Offensive guard | Michigan | Los Angeles Rams | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1967 | Clint Jones | Running back | Michigan State | Minnesota Vikings | College Football Hall of Fame |
1968 | Bob Johnson | Center | Tennessee | Cincinnati Bengals | College Football Hall of Fame |
1969 | George Kunz* | Offensive tackle | Notre Dame | Atlanta Falcons | 8× Pro Bowl |
1970 | Mike McCoy | Defensive tackle | Notre Dame | Green Bay Packers | |
1971 | Archie Manning | Quarterback | Ole Miss | New Orleans Saints | 2× Pro Bowl |
1972 | Sherman White | Defensive end | California | Cincinnati Bengals | |
1973 | Bert Jones | Quarterback | LSU | Baltimore Colts | Pro Bowl (1976), NFL Most Valuable Player (1976) |
1974 | Bo Matthews | Running back | Colorado | San Diego Chargers | |
1975 | Randy White‡ | Defensive tackle | Maryland | Dallas Cowboys | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1976 | Steve Niehaus | Defensive tackle | Notre Dame | Seattle Seahawks | NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year (1976) |
1977 | Tony Dorsett‡ | Running back | Pittsburgh | Dallas Cowboys | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1978 | Art Still* | Defensive end | Kentucky | Kansas City Chiefs | 4× Pro Bowl |
1979 | Mike Bell | Defensive end | Colorado State | Kansas City Chiefs | |
1980 | Lam Jones | Wide receiver | Texas | New York Jets | |
1981 | Lawrence Taylor‡ | Linebacker | North Carolina | New York Giants | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1982 | Johnie Cooks | Linebacker | Mississippi State | Baltimore Colts | |
1983 | Eric Dickerson‡ | Running back | SMU | Los Angeles Rams | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1984 | Dean Steinkuhler | Tackle | Nebraska | Houston Oilers | Outland Trophy (1983) |
1985 | Bill Fralic | Offensive guard | Pittsburgh | Atlanta Falcons | 4× Pro Bowl |
1986 | Tony Casillas | Defensive tackle | Oklahoma | Atlanta Falcons | College Football Hall of Fame |
1987 | Cornelius Bennett | Linebacker | Alabama | Indianapolis Colts | 5× Pro Bowl |
1988 | Neil Smith | Defensive end | Nebraska | Kansas City Chiefs | NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, 6× Pro Bowl |
1989 | Tony Mandarich | Tackle | Michigan State | Green Bay Packers | |
1990 | Blair Thomas | Running back | Penn State | New York Jets | |
1991 | Eric Turner | Defensive back | UCLA | Cleveland Browns | 2× Pro Bowl |
1992 | Quentin Coryatt | Linebacker | Texas A&M | Indianapolis Colts | |
1993 | Rick Mirer | Quarterback | Notre Dame | Seattle Seahawks | |
1994 | Marshall Faulk‡ | Running back | San Diego State | Indianapolis Colts | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1995 | Tony Boselli‡ | Tackle | USC | Jacksonville Jaguars | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
1996 | Kevin Hardy | Linebacker | Illinois | Jacksonville Jaguars | Pro Bowl (1999) |
1997 | Darrell Russell | Defensive tackle | USC | Oakland Raiders | 2× Pro Bowl |
1998 | Ryan Leaf | Quarterback | Washington State | San Diego Chargers | |
1999 | Donovan McNabb* | Quarterback | Syracuse | Philadelphia Eagles | 6× Pro Bowl |
2000 | LaVar Arrington* | Linebacker | Penn State | Washington Redskins | Bednarik Award (1999), 3× Pro Bowl |
2001 | Leonard Davis* | Guard | Texas | Arizona Cardinals | 3× Pro Bowl |
2002 | Julius Peppers‡ | Defensive end | North Carolina | Carolina Panthers | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
2003 | Charles Rogers | Wide receiver | Michigan State | Detroit Lions | Biletnikoff Award (2002) |
2004 | Robert Gallery | Offensive tackle | Iowa | Oakland Raiders | Outland Trophy (2003) |
2005 | Ronnie Brown* | Running back | Auburn | Miami Dolphins | Pro Bowl (2008) |
2006 | Reggie Bush | Running back | USC | New Orleans Saints | Heisman Trophy (2005) |
2007 | Calvin Johnson‡ | Wide receiver | Georgia Tech | Detroit Lions | Pro Football Hall of Fame |
2008 | Chris Long | Defensive end | Virginia | St. Louis Rams | 2× Super Bowl champion, Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (2018) |
2009 | Jason Smith | Offensive tackle | Baylor | St. Louis Rams | |
2010 | Ndamukong Suh* | Defensive tackle | Nebraska | Detroit Lions | NFL 2010s All-Decade Team; 5× Pro Bowl |
2011 | Von Miller | Linebacker | Texas A&M | Denver Broncos | 2× Super Bowl champion, NFL 2010s All-Decade Team; 8× Pro Bowl |
2012 | Robert Griffin III | Quarterback | Baylor | Washington Redskins | Heisman Trophy (2011), Offensive Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl (2012) |
2013 | Luke Joeckel | Offensive tackle | Texas A&M | Jacksonville Jaguars | Outland Trophy (2012) |
2014 | Greg Robinson | Offensive tackle | Auburn | St. Louis Rams | |
2015 | Marcus Mariota | Quarterback | Oregon | Tennessee Titans | Heisman Trophy (2014) |
2016 | Carson Wentz | Quarterback | North Dakota State | Philadelphia Eagles | Bert Bell Award (2017), Pro Bowl (2017) |
2017 | Mitchell Trubisky | Quarterback | North Carolina | Chicago Bears | Pro Bowl (2018) |
2018 | Saquon Barkley | Running back | Penn State | New York Giants | Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2x Pro Bowl |
2019 | Nick Bosa | Defensive end | Ohio State | San Francisco 49ers | Defensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year (2022), 4× Pro Bowl |
2020 | Chase Young | Defensive end | Ohio State | Washington Redskins | Defensive Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl (2020) |
2021 | Zach Wilson | Quarterback | BYU | New York Jets | |
2022 | Aidan Hutchinson | Defensive end | Michigan | Detroit Lions | Pro Bowl (2023) |
2023 | C. J. Stroud | Quarterback | Ohio State | Houston Texans | Offensive Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl (2023) |
2024 | Jayden Daniels | Quarterback | LSU | Washington Commanders | Heisman Trophy (2023) |