Deuce McAllister waited longer than he expected for his phone to ring Saturday.(AP)

As an added bonus, McAllister's family will have to drive only about three hours to watch him play.

"It's like going to Oxford, except you're driving south," he said.

The 220-pound game-breaker was rated the No. 1 senior prospect going into the 2000 season and touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

McAllister became the most popular Ole Miss player since quarterback Archie Manning, who was picked second overall by the Saints in 1971, but shoulder, ankle and hamstring injuries curtailed McAllister's production.

He played in every game last season, but missed a total of eight quarters and was rarely completely healthy. Still, McAllister, an excellent receiver who was also used as the Rebels' primary return man, had 1,488 all-purpose yards and led the Southeastern Conference with 17 touchdowns.

LaDanian Tomlinson of Texas Christian was the only running back picked ahead of McAllister, going fifth overall to San Diego.

After that, others teams in a need of a running back went different directions. Cleveland, New England and San Francisco, teams that had McAllister in for pre-draft visits, selected defensive lineman in the top 10.

The Chicago Bears grabbed Michigan wide receiver David Terrell with the eighth pick, the Carolina Panthers took Miami linebacker Dan Morgan 11th and with the Kansas City Chiefs having traded the 12th pick to St. Louis, few teams had holes to fill at running back.

And the Saints seemed to fall into that category with Ricky Williams on board.

But McAllister's versatility, and possibly the Saints' strong fan base in Mississippi, proved too tempting to pass up.

"We were very surprised. We had him rated very high," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "You can't turn down a guy like this. He gives you so many weapons."

McAllister doesn't mind fighting for playing time.

"Competition makes the team better," McAllister said. "I think it'll make the running back position that much stronger."