Best college football players of all time from every state

North Dakota – Derek Abney

North Dakota has arguably been led in terms of college football success by the North Dakota State Bison, who have won a large amount of Division II titles while relying almost solely on in-state talent for production.

Minot’s Derek Abney was featured on the Football Writers Association’s 75th Anniversary Team thanks to his impressive career as a return man for the Kentucky Wildcats. He was also a wide receiver at Kentucky, recording 197 receptions for 2,339 yards and 18 touchdowns in his four seasons.

Abney had previously departed North Dakota to attend high school in Wisconsin but wound up being a phenomenal special teams’ player for Kentucky, where he ran back an incredible six returns for touchdowns in 2002 alone, earning him consensus All-American honors.

In his years spent with the Wildcats, Abney averaged 11.8 yards per return on 88 punts and had six touchdowns returned off of punts. His kickoff statistics were just as impressive, adding 2,315 kick return yards on 95 returned kickoffs, with two touchdowns.

Combined with his performances at the receiver position (even on a relatively run-heavy offense), Abney became the player with the second-most all-purpose yards in SEC history at the end of his career, an incredibly impressive feat, thus landing him on the radar, and in this list.