The New Orleans Saints have been a part of the QB conversation since the end of last season. This talk heightened when the news about Derek Carr’s injury came out, and many believed the Saints could go with a quarterback at 9. As we know, the Saints stayed patient and selected Kelvin Banks Jr. in the first, but the QB was still a question for round 2. New Orleans stayed patient at 40 and selected Louisville QB Tyler Shough.

Now that the pick is done, it is time to see what Shough brings to the New Orleans Saints. If you do not know, Tyler Shough is going to be 26 near the start of the regular season. You may ask why he is so old entering the NFL. Well, this is because Shough dealt with season-ending broken bone injuries. Throughout the draft process, there have been zero reports that these injuries have caused issues with Shough or should cause problems in the future. Due to these injuries, Shough has only played 42 games in college in 7 seasons. This creates an interesting scenario because there might be some potential for development still with Shough, and he has the talent to make that happen.

Going off of just traits, Tyler Shough is one of the best QBs in the 2025 draft class. He has a great deep ball, insane accuracy when he is on fire, athleticism to extend plays and be a threat to run, nice height at 6-foot-5, steps up in the pocket really well, and can throw his receivers open. Shough can also throw at different arm angles and make perfect throws on the run. This is something teams can fall in love with, but he also has great character and has already faced adversity with those injuries throughout college.

Focusing on just development, Shough’s age may not be an issue. I mentioned before, but he has only played 42 games in college. Also, not being healthy during an offseason can stunt the growth of any player. Saints edge rusher Chase Young mentioned this offseason how important a healthy offseason can do for a player. This is something Tyler Shough has not have much of, and the hope is that Shough can have real and healthy offseason for him to develop. The places that he needs to improve on is going to be dealing with pressure and decision making. With the injuries he has dealt with, Shough gets very worried at times when faced with pressure. This is going to be something he has to overcome, but if he does not, Shough needs to at least fix his decision making. Shough throwing the ball away is perfectly fine, but when he throws the ball straight into the other teams hands, that is where the issue with pressure really is. Still, the Saints coaching staff believes they can fix this and with the amount of QB focused staff members there are, this should be an expectation more than a hope.

Arguably the most important factor of this this pick is that Tyler Shough looks to be the franchise QB for the time being. Yes, this could all go wrong after this season but head coach Kellen Moore has gotten his guy, and he should be the starter in 2025. Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener will compete for the starting job, and it is likely that it comes down to Rattler or Shough, but Shough will probably be the choice for week 1. This is the start of his evaluation. The Saints need to see that Shough can lead them to wins, show great potential, and be a captain for this team. If he can show these things, going into 2026 with Shough as the starting QB will be the expectation. If it goes wrong, and Shough is not the player the Saints thought they were getting, New Orleans will be selecting in the top of the NFL Draft for a QB. Using a 2nd Round pick on Tyler Shough may feel a bit early, but it still allows the Saints to have little pressure to move on from him if needed.

The different outcomes of a rookie QB with some worries around him needs to be talked about, but it is vital to understand the head coach Kellen Moore has gotten the QB he wanted and having trust in that plan for the time being is important. Tyler Shough will be competing for the job in training camp, and if all things go how we think they will, he will be the starter for week 1 of the regular season.