Tennessee has the second-most alumni in New Orleans

So much for the narrative that says the New Orleans Saints overlook players in their own backyard. It felt like decades went by without any star talent going down the river from Baton Rouge to New Orleans — but these days there are more LSU Tigers on the Saints’ roster than players coming from anywhere else.

And they’re playing some pretty big roles between Tyrann Mathieu and Davon Godchaux, both projected starters on defense, with fiery tight end Foster Moreau and veteran running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire competing for snaps offensively. The Saints brought back offensive lineman Will Clapp this spring, too, who has some experience playing in Kellen Moore’s offense.

But where else have the Saints looked to draw talent from? Whether it’s in the annual NFL draft or signing veteran free agents, they’ve gone from coast to coast and even beyond the United States searching for help. Here’s the full breakdown, (not counting Irish kicker Charlie Smyth, who joined the Saints through the International Pathway Program):

5 – LSU4 – Tennessee3 – Fresno State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon State, Texas2 – Alabama, Boston College, Louisville, Northern Iowa, Oregon, SMU, South Carolina, South Dakota State, TCU, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Weber State, Wyoming1 – Appalachian State, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Boise State, BYU, California, Clemson, Colorado State, Delaware, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Fort Hays State, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Marshall, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Pittsburg State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stanford, Syracuse, Texas A&M, UCLA, Utah, UTSA, Wake Forest, Washington, Western Illinois, Wisconsin, Yale

If you’re curious about how this shakes out by conference, we’ve got you covered (again, not counting Smyth):

23 – SEC15 – ACC12 – Big Ten8 – Big 127 – Mountain West6 – Missouri Valley (FCS)4 – Sun Belt3 – Independents, Pac-122 – Big Sky (FCS), MIAA (Division II)1 – AAC, Coastal (FCS), Conference USA, Ivy League (FCS), United (FCS)

So that’s 58 of 90 players coming from the “Power Four” conferences with 11 from the FCS level and two players coming out of Division II schools (Nathan Shepherd from Fort Hays State and Rico Payton from Pittsburg State, both in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Conference). These numbers going to change as the roster is churned over the summer, but we’ll continue to keep track of them as the Saints work to build the best version of their team.