Canal Street Chronicles
The 2025 NFL season didn’t go how we expected for the New Orleans Saints… kinda. We knew that New Orleans was going to be one of the bottom teams in terms of wins, but you won’t find a happier 6-win team. The Saints aren’t happy because they won six games, not in the slightest, but an emergence of a potential coach of the future, franchise quarterback, and a homerun draft class, the black and gold may be set up to compete, maybe even starting in 2026.
In what was known to be a down season for the Saints, many players stepped up, and this article would be too long if I included every player who showed significant strides. Chris Olave became the wide receiver we knew him to be once New Orleans made a QB change, Juwan Johnson had a career year, and the Saints’ draft class as a whole looks to contain core pieces of their future. While I did not mention these players on the list, they very much could have made it.
Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough was the most overlooked passer from his draft class. The story of the draft was centered on Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders before the season began, and the electricity of Jaxson Dart taking over in the midseason. Shough didn’t get his chance until after the midseason mark and didn’t look back. The rookie quarterback ended his first season 5-4 as a starter, throwing for 2,384 yards for 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions while logging 186 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Shough had a hard road ahead of him. The roster around him wasn’t great, and if he wasn’t able to force the Saints out of quarterback range in the draft, New Orleans could’ve possibly looked to replace him in 2026. But all that talk is irrelevant. Shough won five games for the Saints and was above .500 as a starter, showing all the abilities and glimpses of not just a starter in the NFL but a star. With a strong relationship with head coach Kellen Moore and developing chemistry with WR1 Chris Olave, the future for Tyler Shough is bright, and the Saints are in a position to begin building around him.
The Saints’ coaching hires in 2025 were a homerun despite a slow start. Head coach Kellen Moore has built a locker room with players who always hold him in high regard and play for him. Moore was always going to get a second season as head coach, but his 2-10 start was a cause for concern. The rookie head coach showed inexperience in situational awareness and a lack of ability to lead the offense through the team’s first half of the season.
But all of his struggles began to dwindle as Tyler Shough took over at quarterback. Moore’s guy was at the center of the offense, and it became a well-oiled machine. While there were consistent struggles, such...
