Saints' Tyler Shough Doesn't Sound Like Typical Rookie

The New Orleans Saints brought a very intriguing piece to town this offseason.

With Derek Carr retiring, the Saints' quarterback job is up for grabs. The incumbents in New Orleans are Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener. Both saw time in 2024 but have just 15 combined games of NFL experience under their belt.

New Orleans used a second-round pick to take young signal-caller Tyler Shough out of Louisville with the No. 40 overall pick. The Saints also signed undrafted free agent Hunter Dekkers.

It's tough for any player to make the jump from college to the National Football League but Shough is in a unique position. Unlikely the vast majority of players making the jump to the NFL, Shough actually has seven years of experience under his belt. He spent three years at Oregon, three years at Texas Tech, and one year with Louisville.

He had a couple significant injuries throughout his college career which is why he spent as much time in college as he did. Shough is 25 years old and is competing with Rattler and Haener for the starting job.

Who knows what will happen with the competition, but he at least is feeling comfortable, as shared by ESPN's Katherine Terrell.

"I feel after this whole month, I feel up to speed with everybody. It's been clicking really, really well," Shough said. "I think that was just kind of that growth part where you're trying to learn different speeds. ... The playbook part, I knew I was going to grind and work my butt off to learn that, but got to continue to do that, continue to master it and compete from there."

There's been a lot of positive buzz out of Saints camp so far about Shough and also Rattler. The competition is going to last through the summer, but it's good to hear he's transitioning well.