The New Orleans Saints made a splash in the seventh round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.

As the draft approached its conclusion, the Saints selected former Penn State and Mississippi State quarterback Tommy Stevens with the No. 240 overall pick.

He joined Willie Gay Jr. (second round), Cameron Dantzler (third round), Tyre Phillips (third round) and safety Brian Cole (seventh round) to give Mississippi State five players drafted, matching last year's total. Mississippi State has had five players picked in three of the last six NFL Drafts.

Saints coach Sean Payton said the organization was looking at Stevens all day.

"We were hoping to sign him as a priority free agent," Payton said. "We had a real good vision for this player. He's athletic enough to play in the kicking game. He's certainly someone we feel catches the ball exceptionally well and he's someone I think is in a developmental role more as a quarterback, but we saw him do a number of things. A lot of his athletic traits, his height, his weight, his speed, all of those things were really good reviews."

The Saints, still led by veteran quarterback Drew Brees, have had success with former BYU standout quarterback Taysom Hill as a utility player of sorts. Hill has 352 rushing yards and three touchdowns and had racked up 234 receiving yards and six more scores in his three seasons in New Orleans.

Sitting behind Trace McSorley at Penn State, Stevens played a similar role to Hill's in Happy Valley. Stevens could surely learn from Hill, but he's excited to learn from Brees most of all.

"I can't think of a better role model," Stevens said. "Drew’s always done things the right way and I'm going to absorb as much information as I possibly can from him. (He’s) One of the all-time greats. I can't wait to learn as much as I possibly can from him."

Stevens ran 76 times for 506 yards and eight touchdowns while hauling in 14 passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns as a Nittany Lion. He got back behind center when he transferred to Mississippi State for his final year of eligibility, but the season didn't go as planned for the Indianapolis native.

"I think Taysom brings his own game to the table and I bring mine," Stevens said. "But again, I'm glad that I'm going to be teammates with somebody like Taysom and the other quarterbacks in that room. I can't wait to get to work with them."

Stevens battled injuries for most of the year.He completed 97-of-161 pass attempts (60.2%) for 1,115 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He ran 83 times for 381 yards and four touchdowns.

In and out of the lineup with those ailments, Stevens battled with true freshman Garrett Shrader for playing time. Shrader stole the starting spot from Stevens for a few games in the middle of the season before Stevens took it back toward the end of the year.

More:'My turn': How Tommy Stevens endured 'tough' stretch to start again for Mississippi State

Stevens' last collegiate game was a 38-28 Music City Bowl loss to Louisville. He completed 17 of his 26 throws for 221 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat. He also ran 17 times for 71 yards and another touchdown.

Stevens' college career ended on a sour note, but's he's fully focused on the future.

"I am going to do whatever it takes, whatever the coaches ask me to do," he said. "I am willing to do anything. I am so happy, so blown away by this. I keep saying I could not be more thankful. I'm so happy to be a Saint."

Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter. To read more of Tyler's work, subscribe to the Clarion Ledger today!