For a Saints season that’s mostly been about surviving the week, Tyler Shough is quietly turning December into an audition New Orleans can’t ignore. After another late comeback, head coach Kellen Moore basically handed his rookie quarterback a gold star, calling his performance “phenomenal” and leaning hard into the word that keeps following Shough around right now: steadiness.
That steadiness is exactly why the Saints might have a real decision on their hands when draft season rolls around.
As Albert Breer wrote for Sports Illustrated, New Orleans has won two straight under Moore, and Shough is “playing pretty good football.” Breer’s point wasn’t that Shough has erased the need to consider a quarterback if something elite falls into the Saints’ lap, but that he may be playing well enough to change the math.
If the Saints aren’t in love with the QB class at the top, Breer suggests Shough’s recent play could give them flexibility to pass on quarterbacks early and build the roster elsewhere.
That idea lines up with what Moore said after the 20-17 comeback win over the Panthers. Shough absorbed a knee to the hip on a fourth-down play, went to the blue tent, then returned and immediately delivered when the game demanded it most.
He piloted back-to-back scoring drives and set up Charlie Smyth’s 47-yard field goal with two seconds left, finishing 24-of-32 for 272 yards and a touchdown.
Inside the locker room, it isn’t just coach-speak, either. Defensive end Chase Young put it bluntly after New Orleans played NFC South spoiler again: “Tyler Shough, he’s dealing… he’s starting to look like that guy.”
That’s the crux of it. Shough isn’t asking the Saints to cancel their draft board, but he is forcing them to widen it.
