Best college football players of all time from every state

Montana – Ryan Leaf

Great Falls, Montana’s Ryan Leaf takes the throne here as the best product born in the state of Montana, which ranks just no. 44 in population in the U.S., despite being No. 4 in total land area. Leaf came into the national season with his nation-leading passing performance in 1997, when he threw for 3,968 yards and 34 touchdowns, running for six additional touchdowns.

Leaf’s Washington State Cougars won team games in that season, claiming a share of the Pac-10 title, and earning a spot in the Rose Bowl. Leaf won the award for the best collegiate quarterback in the nation but finished behind two incredible performers in Charles Woodson and Peyton Manning for the Heisman.

A gunslinger a 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, Leaf fit the mold for the typical NFL quarterback well, but he didn’t live up to the expectations in the NFL after being selected with the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft.

That said, in his senior season at Washington State, his team averaged 40.2 points per game, second in the country at the time, and took down a tough Michigan Wolverines team in the Rose Bowl, in a season that will go down as one of the best in the history of Wazzu football.