The New Orleans Saints and newly appointed head coach Kellen Moore are facing a major challenge in 2025, and Jon Gruden pointed out one of his concerns.
Jon Gruden posted his NFC South preview this week, detailing the offseason of each of the four teams, while inserting his profound knowledge of the game.
He spoke about the New Orleans Saints at length, with a lot of positive energy. That said, he still has some concerns about one of the teams facing an uphill battle this coming football season.
Jon Gruden concerned about the pass catchers with the New Orleans Saints
The talk of the offseason with the Saints has been the quarterbacks. They drafted Tyler Shough in the second round, before veteran starter Derek Carr retired from the game.
Carr had been deliberating his future following an injury to his throwing shoulder that ended his season the year before. Ultimately, he decided to retire and step away, rather than sit on injured reserve with the Saints all season.
Questions around the starting role surfaced very quickly, and the Saints now don’t have a single veteran presence in the locker room for their group of quarterbacks.
Tyler Shough is a 25-year-old rookie, and while he has a lot of college experience, he’s obviously not yet taken a single snap in the NFL. Spencer Rattler started six games in place of Derek Carr last season, but he’s only a year-two player himself, and third-string Jake Haener started one game, played badly and was benched after throwing an interception.
They have seven NFL starts between the three of them, and head coach Kellen Moore is going to be looking for one of them to be his franchise QB in 2025.
Jon Gruden did say he liked the experience that Shough had in college:
“I think he’s a mentally tough guy. He’s been hurt and had to come back. He’s been benched and had to come back. He’s had to learn new offenses. He’s had to deal with all kinds of different players… I like the guy.”
Gruden also praised the offensive line, and was particularly infatuated with right tackle Taliese Fuaga.
However, Gruden’s concern centered around the group of pass catchers.
He noted that their two key receivers, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, are both coming back from injuries in 2024.
Olave’s are the most serious, having suffered multiple concussions in just a few years, the most recent of which landed him in the hospital and ended his season following a devastating hit over the middle of the field.
Shaheed played in just six games last season before his season was over, having suffered a meniscus injury that landed him on injured reserve.
They brought veteran Brandin Cooks back to the team that drafted him, too, but even he was dealing with injuries in 2024 while playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Cooks missed seven games in the middle of the season, and is going to be 32 years old in late September.
Gruden went on to explain that the injury woes continue with their tight ends, with Foster Moreau and Taysom Hill.
Hill suffered a torn ACL in December 2024 and will be 35 in August. His future with the team is uncertain, and the Saints are going to need to rely heavily on Juwan Johnson while they figure out the rest of the room.
Kellen Moore facing a testing year before potential restart in 2026 NFL draft
This New Orleans Saints team has been held together in recent years, and almost needs to be dismantled and rebuilt.
Safety Tyrann Mathieu retired during the offseason, and this could be the final year for veteran defensive end Cam Jordan too.
Gruden touched on the strength and youth of the offensive line, and the Saints have similar pieces in their defensive front that they can build around.
Kellen Moore may find his franchise quarterback in Tyler Shough, but if he doesn’t, the Saints may be in line for a high draft pick and a talented franchise QB in the loaded 2026 class.
Either way, the Saints have a challenging rebuild ahead, especially considering the health concerns Gruden rightly pointed out about their pass catchers.
