53 days until Saints season opener: Every player to wear No. 53

USA Today

2 days ago

A Dome Patrol icon and Saints Hall of Famer headlines our look back at No. 53
In 53 days, the New Orleans Saints will host the Arizona Cardinals to kick off their 2025 regular season and 59th year in the NFL. Wearing No. 53 for the Saints right now is Jaylan Ford, a second year linebacker. Ford is trying to make a bigger impact after a quiet rookie campaign. The No. 53 has some significant history to it also, as we take a look back at every New Orleans player that wore the jersey.
Saints' History of No. 53
All of the 19 players that have worn No. 53 with the Saints have been linebackers. The first was Dave Simmons in the franchise's inaugural season of 1967. Simmons started nine of 11 games in his only year as a Saint, intercepting one pass. Dick Absher came over from the rival Atlanta Falcons to be the first player to wear 54 in multiple years for the Saints. Absher played three seasons in New Orleans, suiting up in 38 games and recording 2 interceptions with a sack and 5 fumble recoveries.
Rich Kingrea was a Saint for the final six seasons of an eight year NFL career. He played in 66 games with New Orleans, mostly in reserve duty. He'd have an interception and 5 recovered fumbles over that span, which was the third longest tenure of any Saints player to wear No. 53. Scott Pelluer fell just one game off that to finish with the fourth most game appearances of a New Orleans player to wear the jersey. Mostly a backup, Pelluer started six of his 65 outings while with the Saints. Keith Fourcade joined older brother John Fourcade as a replacement player with the Saints during the 1987 player strike. John Fourcade stuck around for a four-year career with New Orleans, but Keith's NFL career was limited to just two games with the hometown Saints during the strike.
Former USFL star and NC State Wolfpack All-American Vaughan Johnson was obtained by the Saints with a Round 1 choice in a special 1984 supplemental draft. While he wouldn't join New Orleans until the USFL folded in 1986, Johnson helped make up the Dome Patrol foursome of he, Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling, and fellow USFL refugee Sam Mills. Johnson's thunderous hits, physical presence, and outstanding run defense set the tone for the Saints for the next eight seasons. His 120 games as a Saint are by far the longest of any player to wear No. 53 with the franchise. Earning four Pro Bowls, Johnson had 4 interceptions, forced 11 fumbles, and had 12 sacks while averaging 90 tackles over his last seven years in New Orleans. In 2000, Johnson was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame.
There wouldn't be a pick by New Orleans in the traditional draft to wear No. 53 for the team until Stanley Arnoux, a Round 4 choice in 2009 that lasted only one year with the team. Arnoux, Zack Baun, a third rounder in 2020, and 2024 Round 5 pick Jaylan Ford are the only three players drafted by New Orleans to wear the jersey. After Vaughan Johnson left in 1994, few players had any success in his old number.
Ramon Humber and Mark Simoneau were the two of those few. Humber wore No. 53 for the last five of his six-year career as a Saint. His 71 games in the number are the second longest behind only Johnson. Humber had just 3.5 sacks and averaged 33 tackles per year on some historically bad New Orleans defenses. Simoneau appeared in 32 contests as a Saint, recording an interception and 3 sacks among 132 tackles. A.J. Klein also had a short sustained run of success as a Saint. Klein solidified the New Orleans defense with his arrival as a free agent in 2017. The underrated Klein had 2 interceptions, 6.5 sacks, and 12 stops for loss with an average of 65 tackles per year.
Zack Baun is the highest drafted New Orleans player to wear 53 to date. Baun earned 1st Team All-Pro honors in 2024 with the Philadelphia Eagles, the year after he left the Saints. With New Orleans, he had nowhere near that kind of success. In four years and 62 games as a Saint, Baun was a solid special teamer but played a meager 15% of the defensive snaps. He managed only 2 sacks, an interception, and 6 tackles for loss over that time.
Up next in No. 53 is Jaylan Ford. An All-American with the Texas Longhorns, most of Ford's rookie season was hampered by injury. His athleticism, pass coverage, and agility may however be a key to the new defensive system run by coordinator Brandon Staley for the Saints this season.