The New Orleans Saints getting Tyler Shough with the 40th overall pick was an absolute steal. His quick acclimation during the nine games he started as a rookie proved it, and Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport cemented it in his latest 2025 re-draft.
A rise like this should come as no surprise. Shough was second in the rookie of the year voting last year. He stepped in and immediately rose the ceiling of the Saints offense. Not only did it turn into victories, the Saints offense passed the eye test with Shough under center.
Shough jumped all the way from the second round to not even making it out of the top-5. Unfortunately for the Saints, this re-draft leaves them still searching for a franchise quarterback. Good thing this is purely fiction, but it does prove they have one in reality.
Tyler Shough still needs more to prove he's the top rookie QB in his class
Shough was unquestionably the best rookie quarterback last year, however, this re-draft shows he still has some work to do to prove he's the best quarterback in the class. Shough rising to the third overall pick is a phenomenal display of how much he impressed as a rookie. Still, he finds himself behind Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart.
The only explanation is ceiling, because Shough should be the number one pick in the draft if we're basing it on what we've already seen. This is where being a second round pick still factors into the view of Shough. Had he been a top-15 selection, there's no doubt in my mind Shough would have at least been the second pick and likely first overall in the re-draft.
Bleacher Report has re-drafted the 2024 NFL Draft a couple of times. Both of those re-drafts featured Caleb Williams being replaced as the first overall pick. The first re-draft came after the 2024 season, and Jayden Daniels' hot streak earned him the top spot. Prior to the NFC and AFC Championship games, they did another re-draft and Drake Maye was the top pick.
There's two caveats to these alterations. Daniels and Maye saw massive team success prior to being the top pick. Secondly, Davenport didn't write either re-draft, so there's reason for inconsistent criteria. However, the premise remains the same. It's much easier to change the order at quarterback when the quarterbacks were picked closer together. That's why even in the most recent re-draft Daniels was picked before Williams despite Williams having a better sophomore season.
For Shough, being clearly better in Year 1 wasn't enough. The potential of what Dart could do with his legs was more appealing for Davenport. Ward began to put some things together late in the season that was enough to keep him at number one. Shough will have to outperform his class once again in 2026. Then, maybe we'll disregard ceilings or acknowledge that Shough has a higher ceiling than previously believed.
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