Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints are coming off a bad loss to the Chicago Bears, but again, the draft pick has not changed. The team is currently projected to select at pick 3, and for the first time in a while, we will be talking about a Quarterback.
QB Spencer Rattler did not play well Sunday. This was a bit against the norm so far, but it fired up the idea of the New Orleans Saints potentially selecting a QB. Last time I talked about QBs as an option in the first round, the group was significantly different. This could change even further depending on who declares for the draft, but for now, there’s a pretty strong group of three to choose from.
Out of the three that I mentioned, I wanted to talk about Alabama QB Ty Simpson first. The first-time starter had a really bad start to the season against FSU, and it led to many believing that Alabama as a winning program was done. Instead, Simpson has been playing at an extremely high level, and Alabama is one of the top teams in the country. The junior QB could have transferred, but he has been waiting his turn at Alabama for his whole college career. This year was finally his chance, and besides the first game, he has looked like a QB who has been starting since his freshman year. Simpson hits his receivers in stride, goes through his progressions, makes impossible throws look easy, extends plays and gains yards on the run, has great arm strength, and moves great in the pocket. This is a top QB prospect that teams will be clamoring for, but the main question is his experience. Only starting a season’s worth of games is not enough, and there is a real chance that Simpson ends up going back to college for another year. The other issue is his size. Simpson is only currently listed at 6-2.
Another QB option the Saints could go with is Oregon signal-caller Dante Moore. In 2023, Moore was a freshman at UCLA and struggled. He then transferred to Oregon, sat for a year, and became the starter this season. Compared to his freshman year, Moore has improved in every single area. His accuracy is beautiful, can clearly make any throw asked of him, made one of the best throws of the season, looks great as a runner, has a pro-ready arm, and makes big plays consistently. Like Ty Simpson, Moore is also inexperienced and could return for another year of college. The other factor that scouts will be looking at is the level of competition. Oregon has not played great competition this year, and the one game they did play, they lost. Hopefully, the Ducks will make the playoffs and play some big games, allowing Moore to prove himself even more.
The Saints are in such an interesting situation with their QB position. Spencer Rattler has proved he can make winning plays, but...
