L.A. is home to largest number of NFL players

A total of 114 players in the league, according to data cruncher Patrick Adler, followed by Miami (73), New York (55), Houston (44), and Chicago (39). Large metro areas, of course, will always have the largest numbers because they are the most populated. When it comes to NFL player production per 100,000 people, it's quite a different story. From the Atlantic's Richard Florida:

Jackson, Mississippi, comes out on top with roughly 35 players per 100,000, followed by Jacksonville, Florida (27); Monroe, Louisiana (20); Lexington, Kentucky (15); Canton, Ohio (11); Lafayette, Louisiana (6); Pine Bluff, Arkansas (4); Athens, Georgia (4); Midland, Texas (3); and Billings, Montana (3) round out the top 10. Of the large metro areas, New Orleans was 16th with 2.5 players per 100,000. Miami is 32nd in player production, Los Angeles is 47th and New York is even further back at 110th.

Quarterback production follows a similar pattern. L.A. leads the way with 10 (11 percent of the total share), followed by San Francisco with five (5 percent). But based on per 100,000 population, Mobile, Alabama, leads with 0.49 QBs per 100,000, followed by Knoxville (0.29), New Orleans (0.17), and Pittsburgh (0.17). L.A. is at 0.08, which seems mighty small. Tonight is the start of the NFL draft, when we might be hearing a lot of those hometowns.