A Look at How Barry Alvarez' Wisconsin Players Fared in the NFL

The Vikings cut ties to defensive end Erasmus James, bringing an end to the former first-round draft pick's career with Minnesota. It also marked another failure for a player from the Wisconsin Badgers, one of the top football programs in the country.

Wisconsin enjoyed tremendous success under former coach Barry Alvarez. The Badgers had a 118-73-4 record in 16 years under Alvarez. His first team went 1-10 and was winless in the Big 10 Conference. But Alvarez turned things around and took Wisconsin to 11 bowl games, where the team went 8-3, including 3-0 in the Rose Bowl.

But while the Badgers were a powerhouse under Alvarez, the success the players enjoyed in college did not transfer to the NFL. Alvarez' first year at Wisconsin was 1990, so the first players to graduate that spent four years with his program was 1993. From 1993 until Alvarez' last year with the Badgers in 2005, the team had 28 players drafted in the first four rounds, including eight that were first-round picks.

Those 28 players combined for two Pro Bowl selections in their career. By contrast, North Carolina State, not a program known for being a football powerhouse, had five players combine for 11 Pro Bowl appearances in that same time period.

Here's a look at the first-round picks from Wisconsin under the Alvarez regime and what they did in the NFL:

Aaron Gibson - A two-time Big Ten Conference offensive lineman selection, Gibson went 27th to the Detroit Lions in the 1999 draft. He played parts of five seasons in the NFL and is best known for being the league's first 400-pound player.

Ron Dayne - Heisman Trophy winner was the 11th player selected in the 2000 draft. Dayne is still active but in his seven-year career has been his team's full-time starter in just one season.

Chris McIntosh - The first player in Wisconsin history to start 50 games, McIntosh was co-captain and All-American his senior season. Seattle made him the 22nd pick of the 2000 draft. A holdout limited him in his first season and a neck injury ended his career after just two seasons.

Jamar Fletcher - A key member of the Badgers' back-to-back Rose Bowl winning squads and winner of the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back, Fletcher was the 26th pick of the 2001 draft. A seven-year veteran of the NFL, Fletcher has made 10 starts in his career.

Michael Bennett - Picked immediately after Fletcher in the 2001 draft, Bennett is the only one of Alvarez' players to be drafted in the first round and make the Pro Bowl. Bennett nabbed that honor after rushing for 1,296 yards and five touchdowns in his second year with the Vikings in 2002. Still active, Bennett is with his third team in the NFL and is a backup with the Bucs.

Wendell Bryant - A two-time Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year selection, Bryant was the 12th player selected in the 2002 draft. He was a three-year starter but was released following the 2004 season because he had no role on the team.

Lee Evans - After establishing a school record with 26 touchdown catches, Evans was the 13th pick in the 2004 draft. Evans has been a four-year starter for the Bills and has put up solid numbers but has not developed into the star receiver that both the Bills and fantasy players everywhere have expected.

Erasmus James - An All-American his senior season, James was the 18th pick of the 2005 draft. Injuries limited his production with the Vikings, who announced plans to waive James this year before wrangling a conditional seventh-round pick in 2009 from the Redskins.

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The only other Wisconsin player under Alvarez to make a Pro Bowl team in the NFL was wide receiver Chris Chambers, a second-round pick in 2001 who was selected in 2005 after an 11-TD performance.

Joe Thomas, a player recruited by Alvarez but one who finished his career under Brett Bielema, was a Pro Bowl selection in 2007.

Alvarez had an outstanding career at Wisconsin but the truth is that his players did not make much of an impact at the NFL level.