The New Orleans Saints might've finished the 2025 season with a losing record, but they did manage to pull off one of the hardest things to do in sports: finding your franchise quarterback. Tyler Shough, who New Orleans took in the second round of the last draft, is looking like their best quarterback since Drew Brees.
With 2,384 passing yards, 10 touchdown passes, 186 rushing yards, and five wins on the season, Shough has broken nearly every rookie quarterback record there is to be had for the Saints. In fact, one of the only ones I could find that he didn't break was most rushing touchdowns (which is four, set by Archie Manning in 1971). In his rookie year, Shough was also unable to become the first rookie quarterback to beat the rival Atlanta Falcons.
As he heads into this next offseason, Shough has said that he is feeling optimistic. "There are a lot of changes that's going to happen, but I think the core of what we showed is really encouraging," he said to the media. "Losing also puts a bad taste in our mouths to the point where we got a lot of stuff to put in, but that's also encouraging... This offseason, I'm going to give everything I have to make sure we're in the playoffs and fighting for a Super Bowl next year."
Tyler Shough allows the Saints to build around a QB instead of searching for one
There's one other thing that Tyler Shough has been able to do: expedite the rebuild of the New Orleans Saints. Thanks to his Offensive Rookie of the Year-worthy performance, the Black and Gold don't have to look for another quarterback in free agency or the draft, something that can take years. Now, they can go right away to filling out some much more pressing needs, like any of the skill positions or the defensive and offensive line.
Furthermore, due to the fact that Shough couldn't help extend the winning streak to five games, the Saints will have a top 10 selection for the 18th time in franchise history. Last year was the first time since 2007 the Saints picked in the first 10 picks, and here they are again.
New Orleans hit on Kelvin Banks Jr. This year the team should look to step away from their typical first round offensive lineman approach, and if they have the same level of success in this draft, the future only gets brighter.