The Saints Don't Draft LSU Players - Debunked (1 Viewer)

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With the signing of Tyrann Mathieu and Jarvis Landry the question of why did it take so long for the Saints to acquire LSU players and some kind of conspiracy theory of franchise bias that left with Sean Payton has seemed to resurface.
I thought I would run the numbers to debunk the notion the Saints don't like or refuse to draft LSU players.

The following is a list of every first round or top LSU player drafted in the Sean Payton era, what slot they were drafted, and when the Saints picked. It shows it is not that the Saints do not draft LSU stars. It is that they haven't been on the board when the Saints were drafting or in some cases we drafted a better rated player at the same position earlier in the same draft.

(2006 Joseph Addai RB went 30th , we drafted Reggie Bush RB at 2,)
(2007 LaRon Landry S went 6th Dwayne Bowe WR went 23rd. Saints picked Robert Meachem WR at 27)
(2008 Glenn Dorsey DT went 5th, Saints took Sedrick Ellis DT 7th and probably would have taken Dorsey if they could have.),
(2009 Tyson Jackson DE went 3rd. Saints picked Malcolm Jenkins CB at 14),
(2010 LSU did not have a 1st rounder but the Saints did pick Al Woods DT in the 4th round),
(2011 Patrick Peterson CB went 5th, Saints picked Cam Jordan DE at 24 and Mark Ingram RB at 28),
(2012 Morris Claiborne CB went 6th and Michael Brockers DT went 14th, Saints did not have a first round pick)
(2013 Tyrann Mathieu S went in the third round. Saints took Kenny Vicarro S in the 15th overall and Terron Armstead OT six picks after Mathieu and did not have a 2nd rounder)
(2014 Odell Beckham Jr. WR went 12th, Jarvis Landry WR went 63rd overall (late 2nd round) Saints took Brandin Cooks WR at 20 and Stanley Jean Baptiste S at 58) If the Saints hadn't taken a WR in the first this is the first pick in this list so far where I can fault the Saints for having a chance to pick a top tier LSU player and they picked a dud. Mathieu was the other. They have now taken the advantage of acquiring both of them as lower cost past second contract players to amend that error.

(2015 no LSU first round picks but Kwon Alexander LB did go in the 4th. Saints amended that one too.)
(2016 no LSU first rounders but Deion Jones LB went in the 2nd at 52 overall. Saints took Michael Thomas WR at 47. Saints took the better player.)
(2017 Jamal Adams S went 6th overall. Tre'Davious White CB went 27th. Saints had their greatest draft in team history with Marshawn Lattimore CB at 11. Ryan Ramczyk OT at 32. You know the rest).
(2018 no LSU first rounders. Three second rounders: Donte Jackson CB, Derrius Guice RB, and DJ Chark WR. Saints took Marcus Davenport DE at 14 and did not have a second round pick. Saints took LSU's Will Clapp G in the 7th.)
(2019 Devin White LB went 5th. Greedy Williams CB went 46th. Saints first pick in the draft was 48th overall Erik McCoy C.)
(2020 Joe Burrow QB went 1st, K'Lavon Chaisson DE 20th, Justin Jefferson WR 22nd, Patrick Queen LB 28th, Clyde Edwards-Helaire RB 32nd, Grant Delpit S 44th, Kristian Fulton CB 61st. The Saints very likely would have drafted Justin Jefferson if he was there over Caesar Ruiz C.)
(2021 Ja'Marr Chase WR went 5th, Terrance Marshall Jr. WR went 59th. Saints took Peyton Turner DE at 28 and Pete Werner LB at 60 possibly missing Marshall Jr. by one pick.)
(2022 Derek Stingley Jr CB went 3rd overall. Saints took Chris Olave WR at 11 and Trevor Penning OT at 19.)

So if you look at the data the idea the Saints do not draft LSU players because of some kind of bias whether it be Sean Payton or Mickey Loomis is false.
The only year the Saints had a shot at a first round LSU player that was drafted by another team was 2020 where maybe they could have picked Patrick Queen.
You can fault every team in the league for passing on La'el Collins OT in 2015 who was expected to be a first rounder until off the field right before the draft legal questions surfaced. (Collins signed as a rookie free agent with the Cowboys.)
 
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I think something happened with the Al Woods pick in ‘10. He obviously rubbed SP the wrong way. They cut him in preseason and he’s still in the league. We will never know, unless someone squeals.
 
LSU most years probably has 6-8 players get drafted. Its not really much surprise if Saints do have such few players from that school on thier roster. Most probably only play 3-4 years.
 
With the signing of Tyrann Mathieu and Jarvis Landry the question of why did it take so long for the Saints to acquire LSU players and some kind of conspiracy theory of franchise bias that left with Sean Payton has seemed to resurface.
I thought I would run the numbers to debunk the notion the Saints don't like or refuse to draft LSU players.

The following is a list of every first round or top LSU player drafted in the Sean Payton era, what slot they were drafted, and when the Saints picked. It shows it is not that the Saints do not draft LSU stars. It is that they haven't been on the board when the Saints were drafting or in some cases we drafted a better rated player at the same position earlier in the same draft.

(2006 Joseph Addai RB went 30th , we drafted Reggie Bush RB at 2,)
(2007 LaRon Landry S went 6th Dwayne Bowe WR went 23rd. Saints picked Robert Meachem WR at 27)
(2008 Glenn Dorsey DT went 5th, Saints took Sedrick Ellis DT 7th and probably would have taken Dorsey if they could have.),
(2009 Tyson Jackson DE went 3rd. Saints picked Malcolm Jenkins CB at 14),
(2010 LSU did not have a 1st rounder but the Saints did pick Al Woods DT in the 4th round),
(2011 Patrick Peterson CB went 5th, Saints picked Cam Jordan DE at 24 and Mark Ingram RB at 28),
(2012 Morris Claiborne CB went 6th and Michael Brockers DT went 14th, Saints did not have a first round pick)
(2013 Tyrann Mathieu S went in the third round. Saints took Kenny Vicarro S in the 15th overall and Terron Armstead OT six picks after Mathieu and did not have a 2nd rounder)
(2014 Odell Beckham Jr. WR went 12th, Jarvis Landry WR went 63rd overall (late 2nd round) Saints took Brandin Cooks WR at 20 and Stanley Jean Baptiste S at 58) If the Saints hadn't taken a WR in the first this is the first pick in this list so far where I can fault the Saints for having a chance to pick a top tier LSU player and they picked a dud. Mathieu was the other. They have now taken the advantage of acquiring both of them as lower cost past second contract players to amend that error.

(2015 no LSU first round picks but Kwon Alexander LB did go in the 4th. Saints amended that one too.)
(2016 no LSU first rounders but Deion Jones LB went in the 2nd at 52 overall. Saints took Michael Thomas WR at 47. Saints took the better player.)
(2017 Jamal Adams S went 6th overall. Tre'Davious White CB went 27th. Saints had their greatest draft in team history with Marshawn Lattimore CB at 11. Ryan Ramczyk OT at 32. You know the rest).
(2018 no LSU first rounders. Three second rounders: Donte Jackson CB, Derrius Guice RB, and DJ Chark WR. Saints took Marcus Davenport DE at 14 and did not have a second round pick. Saints took LSU's Will Clapp G in the 7th.)
(2019 Devin White LB went 5th. Greedy Williams CB went 46th. Saints first pick in the draft was 48th overall Erik McCoy C.)
(2020 Joe Burrow QB went 1st, K'Lavon Chaisson DE 20th, Justin Jefferson WR 22nd, Patrick Queen LB 28th, Clyde Edwards-Helaire RB 32nd, Grant Delpit S 44th, Kristian Fulton CB 61st. The Saints very likely would have drafted Justin Jefferson if he was there over Caesar Ruiz C.)
(2021 Ja'Marr Chase WR went 5th, Terrance Marshall Jr. WR went 59th. Saints took Peyton Turner DE at 28 and Pete Werner LB at 60 possibly missing Marshall Jr. by one pick.)
(2022 Derek Stingley Jr CB went 3rd overall. Saints took Chris Olave WR at 11 and Trevor Penning OT at 19.)

So if you look at the data the idea the Saints do not draft LSU players because of some kind of bias whether it be Sean Payton or Mickey Loomis is false.
The only year the Saints had a shot at a first round LSU player that was drafted by another team was 2020 where maybe they could have picked Patrick Queen.
You can fault every team in the league for passing on La'el Collins OT in 2015 who was expected to be a first rounder until off the field right before the draft legal questions surfaced. (Collins signed as a rookie free agent with the Cowboys.)
it doesn't have to be first round picks. No one here is saying to pick LSU players just because they are LSU players. They are saying pick LSU players because they are good players that can help this team.
 
It is more about not drafting SEC players then anything. And I get what you did. But if you went much deeper, I bet you would find LSU players who were still on tbe board, when the Saints drafted, in any round, that would have been better than the actual player drafted. You have cherry picked, IMO.

But good work, none the less! 👍
 
With the signing of Tyrann Mathieu and Jarvis Landry the question of why did it take so long for the Saints to acquire LSU players and some kind of conspiracy theory of franchise bias that left with Sean Payton has seemed to resurface.
I thought I would run the numbers to debunk the notion the Saints don't like or refuse to draft LSU players.

The following is a list of every first round or top LSU player drafted in the Sean Payton era, what slot they were drafted, and when the Saints picked. It shows it is not that the Saints do not draft LSU stars. It is that they haven't been on the board when the Saints were drafting or in some cases we drafted a better rated player at the same position earlier in the same draft.

(2006 Joseph Addai RB went 30th , we drafted Reggie Bush RB at 2,)
(2007 LaRon Landry S went 6th Dwayne Bowe WR went 23rd. Saints picked Robert Meachem WR at 27)
(2008 Glenn Dorsey DT went 5th, Saints took Sedrick Ellis DT 7th and probably would have taken Dorsey if they could have.),
(2009 Tyson Jackson DE went 3rd. Saints picked Malcolm Jenkins CB at 14),
(2010 LSU did not have a 1st rounder but the Saints did pick Al Woods DT in the 4th round),
(2011 Patrick Peterson CB went 5th, Saints picked Cam Jordan DE at 24 and Mark Ingram RB at 28),
(2012 Morris Claiborne CB went 6th and Michael Brockers DT went 14th, Saints did not have a first round pick)
(2013 Tyrann Mathieu S went in the third round. Saints took Kenny Vicarro S in the 15th overall and Terron Armstead OT six picks after Mathieu and did not have a 2nd rounder)
(2014 Odell Beckham Jr. WR went 12th, Jarvis Landry WR went 63rd overall (late 2nd round) Saints took Brandin Cooks WR at 20 and Stanley Jean Baptiste S at 58) If the Saints hadn't taken a WR in the first this is the first pick in this list so far where I can fault the Saints for having a chance to pick a top tier LSU player and they picked a dud. Mathieu was the other. They have now taken the advantage of acquiring both of them as lower cost past second contract players to amend that error.

(2015 no LSU first round picks but Kwon Alexander LB did go in the 4th. Saints amended that one too.)
(2016 no LSU first rounders but Deion Jones LB went in the 2nd at 52 overall. Saints took Michael Thomas WR at 47. Saints took the better player.)
(2017 Jamal Adams S went 6th overall. Tre'Davious White CB went 27th. Saints had their greatest draft in team history with Marshawn Lattimore CB at 11. Ryan Ramczyk OT at 32. You know the rest).
(2018 no LSU first rounders. Three second rounders: Donte Jackson CB, Derrius Guice RB, and DJ Chark WR. Saints took Marcus Davenport DE at 14 and did not have a second round pick. Saints took LSU's Will Clapp G in the 7th.)
(2019 Devin White LB went 5th. Greedy Williams CB went 46th. Saints first pick in the draft was 48th overall Erik McCoy C.)
(2020 Joe Burrow QB went 1st, K'Lavon Chaisson DE 20th, Justin Jefferson WR 22nd, Patrick Queen LB 28th, Clyde Edwards-Helaire RB 32nd, Grant Delpit S 44th, Kristian Fulton CB 61st. The Saints very likely would have drafted Justin Jefferson if he was there over Caesar Ruiz C.)
(2021 Ja'Marr Chase WR went 5th, Terrance Marshall Jr. WR went 59th. Saints took Peyton Turner DE at 28 and Pete Werner LB at 60 possibly missing Marshall Jr. by one pick.)
(2022 Derek Stingley Jr CB went 3rd overall. Saints took Chris Olave WR at 11 and Trevor Penning OT at 19.)

So if you look at the data the idea the Saints do not draft LSU players because of some kind of bias whether it be Sean Payton or Mickey Loomis is false.
The only year the Saints had a shot at a first round LSU player that was drafted by another team was 2020 where maybe they could have picked Patrick Queen.
You can fault every team in the league for passing on La'el Collins OT in 2015 who was expected to be a first rounder until off the field right before the draft legal questions surfaced. (Collins signed as a rookie free agent with the Cowboys.)
You clearly missed the what seems like a lot of these same threads. If not mistaken, there was this same thread just a couple weeks before the draft that started with what teams drafted LSU players and Saints were one of the higher teams to do so.

There are several more, but I don't have that much time right now. Anyway, thanks for listing the players.

I also think draft position and draft needs are a key factor. If the talent is good enough, I'm sure hometown heroes want to play for their city (example: Lewis). I would also say that players also want to make the best decision for their family and sometimes, other teams have a better offer. It just depends on a players heart and whether or not that team has a better shot for the Super Bowl.
 
I think something happened with the Al Woods pick in ‘10. He obviously rubbed SP the wrong way. They cut him in preseason and he’s still in the league. We will never know, unless someone squeals.
Maybe Woods just wasn't a good fit here. If I remember correctly we had pretty good depth on the defensive line already so the numbers probably didn't work out in his favor. Sean also cut Rob Ninkovich and he’s admitted that was one of his biggest mistakes.
 
I’m going to take a stab at this. I will only speak on the SP era bc that seems to be the issue for the most part. I do not believe that SP intentionally went out of his way to draft LSU players. SP is a guy, who has connections in the world of football, and he wholeheartedly trusts his connections. One of his connections being Urban Meyer. That’s a huge reason why we have drafted and signed many players from OSU. OSU is a hotbed for football talent and they do put a lot of players into the NFL, so as much as us Tigers fans would love to see us draft our guys, we are still getting supreme talent regardless. Same goes with SP’s connections in the Illinois region. That part I really didn’t understand bc they area isn’t known for putting a lot of talent in the NFL (not at a high level anyway).

For me, the issue with not drafting LSU players (and your theory about LSU players being out of reach in the draft) is that SP was always aggressive with going after players that they love. Did he not love some bonafide supreme LSU talent enough to jump in the draft to select at least one?

The year we took SJB, many of us said we should have double dipped at WR and took Jarvis. Would’ve been a solid selection. Fast forward to a few years ago. We all knew that Jetts was the PERFECT WR for the decline of Drew and WR was indeed a need. Plus, we can argue that Jetts was the BPA regardless of position (turns out he is more than a STUD). And to emphasize…..Jetts was PERFECT for our offense and Drew’s declining arm strength……sorry, I had to say that twice. Why did we not make at least a small move to select him, but take a Center for the second year straight? It’s things like that that makes people go hmmmmmm?!?!🤔 I mean seriously….Ruiz?!?!

With all that being said, it’s time to turn the page, and look forward from here on out. It’s a new era and lets just keep our eyes on the prize.
 
Mathieu was the other.
I just wanted to add that at the time, Mathieu was viewed everywhere in the football world as a 1st round pick. Only reason he went as late as he did was because of the issues he had with school regarding La's (still) outdated juana laws/policies.

It wasn't just the Saints who made the mistake of not taking him in the 1st where he was projected to go.
 
I’m sure one could list another top football program and ask why SP regularly “avoided” picking from that institution too. The most probable answer is that the hometown team is here and folks assume that means the pro team down the road will just pick from that talent at greater ease than any other program - as if it was in a greater spotlight than any other school. and that’s why it’s inferred that SP had some silly vendetta against LSU.
 
I think something happened with the Al Woods pick in ‘10. He obviously rubbed SP the wrong way. They cut him in preseason and he’s still in the league. We will never know, unless someone squeals.
Assuming you'd be right, for one player to somehow sour Payton on the school he came from makes no sense at all. Even if it's less about Woods and him not trusting their word because there were three different coaching staffs during Payton's years. Woods was an early Les Miles player.

I seem to recall we were about to draft a running back from LSU but he went right before our pick. Jeremy Hill perhaps?
 
Crazy theory: The recent LSU surge is a marketing play to continue selling out season tickets. There's an on field benefit as well, but w/ Brees Retiring, Hill losing the QB1 comp, & Sean Payton Retiring something had to be done to throw SE La football fans a bone to keep them re-upping for Season Tickets, so they came up with a strategy to bring in home grown talent that fans love.
 
Crazy theory: The recent LSU surge is a marketing play to continue selling out season tickets. There's an on field benefit as well, but w/ Brees Retiring, Hill losing the QB1 comp, & Sean Payton Retiring something had to be done to throw SE La football fans a bone to keep them re-upping for Season Tickets, so they came up with a strategy to bring in home grown talent that fans love.
Plausible or maybe these LSU players somehow stayed on the market for a good amount of time for us to make calculated signings (FA/draft). They both fill needs…..however, they WILL help sell tickets like you mentioned. It’s sorta a huge combination of a few factors.
 
I'm still not seeing how this has been debunked.

Yeah, we've SIGNED some LSU alumni, but who's the last one we DRAFTED? Devery?
 
It is more about not drafting SEC players then anything. And I get what you did. But if you went much deeper, I bet you would find LSU players who were still on tbe board, when the Saints drafted, in any round, that would have been better than the actual player drafted. You have cherry picked, IMO.

But good work, none the less! 👍
Do 'bets' beat research now? Because it sounds a lot like your preferred, unsupported outcome versus quantifiable fact.

To coin your own phrase, you have cherry picked which evidence you choose to believe, IMO.
 

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