Saints Made Big Mistake, Missed Prime Opportunity with QB Plan

With a lackluster quarterback class in this year's draft, and a promising one ahead in 2026, the Saints could have gone any number of directions with their early second-round pick to add a foundational building block for the future on either side of the ball. They could roll with their two young, developmental passers (Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener) for the 2025 campaign, and put themselves in position to draft a top prospect early in next year's draft (Arch Manning, even).

Instead, they spent that top-40 selection on Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough, a 26-year-old rookie with a long injury history and limited physical traits.

On the latest episode of "Best Podcast Available," I sat down with Athlon Sports NFL writer Doug Farrar to try and fathom the Saints' strategy from a team-building standpoint.

"Derek Carr medically retired in March," Farrar said. "I think they thought, 'We've got one more year with Carr, we'll build around that.' So, maybe they had Shough with a third-round or fourth-round grade, and they just had to, in their minds, overdraft? It reminded me of when the Browns took Brandon Weeden."

Coaches admittedly get involved late in the scouting process, and particularly so for someone like Kellen Moore, who couldn't be hired until he finished a Super Bowl run as the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. It's possible his arrival could have impacted the Saints' eventual decision to prioritize Shough as their new starting quarterback, but his skill set doesn't exactly mesh with the style of quarterback Moore has found success with in recent years.

"I was very surprised that Kellen Moore was so up on Shough, because if you look at Moore's recent history with Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts, all of these guys can run," Farrar said. "All of these guys can make plays outside the pocket. And for all the talk of, 'Well, Shough's really got it above the neck,' the other body parts have to work, too."

As a prospect, Shough reminded Farrar of a recent first-round pick, but it's not much of a compliment.

"It reminded me a little bit of my evaluation of Mac Jones coming out of Alabama," Farrar said. "He had a 'career backup' kind of feel to him as a prospect, because the one thing he could do was work outside the pocket. In today's NFL, with all the different fronts and coverages, and the way defenses are playing more press than they have...they have so many more ways to reduce the time where you can feel safe in the pocket. If you can't move outside the pocket in the NFL in 2025, I don't believe you have a chance."

Shough started his college career at Oregon way back in 2018, with a stop at Texas Tech before finishing at Louisville last season. When healthy, he was able to put up solid production as a starter, but 2024 was the first time in his career he attempted more than 177 passes in a season.

"The injuries are obviously a concern, but he also got benched a lot," Farrar pointed out. "There were times he just couldn't beat out everyone else in the room."

Throw in the fact that history says taking a quarterback in the second round might just be the worst possible decision you can make in any draft, and Saints fans have plenty of reasons to wonder what in the world the front office is doing.

All told, Shough is an older prospect with a concerning injury history and limited physical upside, who doesn't seem to be an ideal fit for his new head coach's offense. The team had a prime opportunity to spend 2025 getting their house in order from a salary cap standpoint and investing in any number of other weak positions on the roster while avoiding a down year for quarterback prospects and setting themselves up to take advantage of a much deeper on in 2026.

Instead, Saints fans are left to hope that Shough can be a better, healthier quarterback in the NFL than he ever was in his seven-year college career.