New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough threw his first touchdown in a preseason game against the Chargers on Sunday. The Louisville product connected with Mason Tipton on a long 54-yard pass that hit the receiver in stride with open field in front of him.
Tipton had to run about 15 yards from the time he corralled the catch to break the plane of the end zone for the score. Shough was pumped up, running down to the end zone to celebrate, and you can view the moment below.
The Saints used a second-round pick to take Shough this offseason and is competing with Spencer Rattler for the starting job. Rattler started the game and played until the midway point of the second quarter before Shough came in to replace him.
Since then, Shough has gone 13-of-19 passing for 149 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Rattler, by comparison, was 7-of-11 passing for 53 yards in addition to 22 yards rushing and one fumble. The Saints trailed the Chargers 17-10 at the start of the fourth quarter.
This past season was the only one that Shough played at Louisville after also playing at Oregon and Texas Tech in his college career. It was also his best by far from a statistical perspective.
Part of that was due to the fact that the 2024 season marked the first time in his career that Shough had played in more than seven games, as he appeared in 12. He finished with 3,195 yards passing and a 62.7% completion percentage along with 23 touchdowns to six interceptions.
Tyler Shough played high school football at Chandler (AZ), where he was a four-star prospect. He ranked as the No. 122 overall player and No. 12 quarterback in the 2018 cycle according to the On3 | Rivals Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
Based on his performance from Sunday, Shough is already making a solid case for himself to start. The Saints are looking toward the future after the retirement of Derek Carr and coming off of a 5-12 finish in 2024.
“That’s all you can ask for is an opportunity, at any position,” Shough said in May, via the team’s website. “And I’m going to treat it the same way, as if whoever is on the roster, I’ve got to continue to grow and get better and do my best to elevate the QB room and the team. For me, I was going to come in regardless of (Carr) being here or not and try and continue to grow.
“I think he’s been such a high-level player for so long, I think it would be a great opportunity to learn from him. It’s also a great opportunity to grow myself and be on this team with a lot of great coaches and guys on the team that we have already. I’m just excited for what’s (next) and the rest of our offseason.”
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