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The New Orleans Saints missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season after finishing with a 6-11 record in Kellen Moore’s debut campaign. But despite another down year, New Orleans may have found its franchise quarterback. Tyler Shough finished the season strong. After being elevated to QB1 in the middle of the season, the rookie passer went 5-4 as the Saints’ starter.
New Orleans drafted Shough in the second round of the 2025 draft (40th overall). And while Spencer Rattler won the starting job in training camp, Shough took over in Week 9. After the Saints were eliminated from the playoffs, the first-year QB guided the team to four straight wins.
Shough’s performance over the second half was enough to earn Moore’s endorsement as the starter heading into next season. “Tyler’s done an awesome job through this entire process. He’s gotten a ton better. He’s taken advantage of a bunch of opportunities,” Moore said, per Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “We’re excited to have a full offseason to build.”
After a 2-10 start, New Orleans was in the running for a top pick in the 2026 draft. At the time, NFL insiders assumed the team would take another shot at a quarterback. But Shough forced the Saints to reconsider their draft plans. As his play moved New Orleans back to the No. 8 pick, he earned another opportunity as the starter.
“We’re excited about Tyler … but we have to remember that he hasn’t had 17 starts yet, so we’re going to go into next season with these high expectations and there’s nothing wrong with that. But we also have to temper that by the fact that … he’s a second-year quarterback and he’s had less than [a] full season to start. So we’ve got to keep that in mind as we go forward. There are building blocks here and we cannot skip any steps,” Saints GM Mickey Loomis said, via ESPN.
Shough earned Offensive Rookie of the Year consideration with his second-half surge. The 26-year-old QB completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 2,384 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions in nine starts (11 appearances). Shough also showed some promise as a runner, adding 186 yards and three touchdowns on 45 carries.
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