EDITOR’S NOTE: In an 11-part series, Saturday Down South contributor Gary Laney looks at the states in the SEC and what areas in those states produce the most players, per capita. The method was to count players who have earned at least a four-star rating from 247Sports’ composite rankings, because that ranking takes into account the rankings of all the recruiting services. We then calculate how many of these blue chip recruits each metro area has produced per capita over a five-year period from 2012-16. At the end, we’ll rank the 10 biggest hotbeds in SEC country in per capita player production.

Atlanta is known to be one of the more cosmopolitan cities in the south, with corporate America pulling folks from all over the U.S. to some huge employers to the Southeast’s largest city.

Yet, despite influences from elsewhere, football players from Atlanta and its numerous surrounding suburbs remain steadfastly loyal to the SEC footprint, even if not to the in-state Georgia Bulldogs.

In the past five years, only 15 of the 50 players ranked among the top 10 players in the state in their respective classes signed with Georgia. But only nine opted to play for programs outside the SEC. The biggest escape artist was Deshaun Watson, from Gainesville. Ranked No. 4 in the state in 2014, Watson picked Clemson and led the Tigers to the 2015 national championship game. He’s a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 2016.

But with 26 elite players signing with other SEC teams, that means Georgia has been most kind to providing players to the Dawgs’ biggest rivals.

Maybe it’s the lure of coming home to play in the SEC Championship Game. Maybe Georgians are just so southern, even if they leave their state, they can’t stand to leave the south.

Whatever the case, in 2015, ESPN.com’s SEC blog identified Georgia as the biggest contributor of players to the SEC.

If Florida is a breadbasket for all of college football to feast from, Georgia has been a kindly provider of talent to the SEC.

Where do the players come from? Let’s break it down here:

Metro area Size Stars per capita 5 stars 4 stars
Hinesville/Ft. Stewart 80,000 1/26,700 2 1
Valdosta 143,000 1/28,600 1 4
Albany 153,500 1/51,000 1 2
Macon 230,000 1/56,000 0 4
Atlanta 5,700,000 1/65,517 6 81
Columbus 242,000 1/80,667 1 2
Warner Robbins 188,000 1/94,000 0 2
Rome 96,500 1/96,500 0 1
Gainesville 193,500 1/96,750 0 2
Athens 203,000 1/101,500 0 2
Augusta 393,000 1/131,000 0 3
Savannah 379,000 1/379,000 1 0
Dalton 144,000 0 0 0
Brunswick 116,000 0 0 0
Rural 1,600,000 1/59,000 4 23

Three things to know

A little bit suburban …: When checking the recruiting boards for players from Metro Atlanta, one word you won’t see too often is “Atlanta.” Suburban players from places like Roswell and Powder Springs far outnumber the players from the actual “ATL.” You’ll find players like Robert Nkemdiche (from Loganville) and Lorenzo Carter (Norcross) coming out of the city’s outlying areas.

A lot country: Georgia has a lot of countryside and those country kids play football. Players like Nick Cubb, from the rural west Georgia town of Cedartown, dominate the recruiting landscape at a remarkable rate. Non-metro players make up the second largest total population of elite recruits from Georgia outside of Metro Atlanta players.

Where do they go? The biggest grabber of Peach State talent from outside of Georgia is Auburn, which has grabbed nine players from the Georgia top 10 in the past five years. Alabama follows with five and South Carolina four. Clemson leads non-SEC teams with three.

Prep program to know

Buford is a perennial power in the outer Atlanta suburbs and in 2015 it had one of the most prolific signing classes in the state’s history, with 15 players signing with Division I programs.

While that class didn’t have any 4-star or better prospects, in 2014, it produced 4-star linebacker Korie Rogers (Clemson) and in 2012, it boasted 4-star prospects in linebacker Dillon Lee (Alabama) and Vadal Alexander (LSU).