The New Orleans Saints are heading into the 2025 season with more questions than answers — and most of them revolve around the quarterback position. After Derek Carr’s surprise retirement earlier this year, newly hired head coach Kellen Moore was left with a trio of unproven signal-callers: rookie Tyler Shough, second-year Spencer Rattler, and Jake Haener.
Moore’s debut hasn’t inspired much confidence. In the preseason opener, the Saints fell 27–13 to the Chargers, and the quarterback play was a mixed bag at best. Rattler looked jittery and inconsistent, while Shough showed flashes of promise — including a 54-yard touchdown — but also threw a costly pick-six.
Despite Moore naming Rattler the starter for Week 1 of preseason, reports suggest the team is leaning toward Shough as the long-term option. Still, neither quarterback has seized control of the job, and the offense continues to sputter — converting just 3 of 13 third downs and committing multiple turnovers.
With the Saints still hamstrung by salary cap issues and lacking veteran leadership, Moore’s ability to stabilize the team is under scrutiny. If the quarterback carousel continues, 2025 could be another lost season in New Orleans.
Kellen Moore, Saints Coaching Staff Get No Love in Latest ESPN Rankings
It wouldn’t come as a huge surprise if, in time, former All-American Boise State quarterback and longtime offensive coordinator Kellen Moore became a very good NFL head coach. But for the time being, with most analysts around the league expecting that the New Orleans Saints will be among the NFL’s worst teams in 2025, it may be hard to tell just how good he is or will eventually be in his first season in the big chair.
As a result, Moore and the rest of the Saints coaching staff finished near the bottom of ESPN’s Ben Solak’s rankings of all 32 coaching staffs in the NFL. Only the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars finished lower in the exercise than the Saints did.
“The biggest question mark for Moore, who was a fine offensive coordinator even before his Eagles stint in 2024, is the obvious one: What does this look like when you’re no longer calling plays behind the best offensive line in football?” Solak pondered.
This is definitely a question worth considering, and it’s one that may be keeping some diehard Saints fans up at night. But as Solak points out, Moore did have a track record of success even before his one season with Philadelphia.
In three of his four seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, Moore’s group finished in the top ten in both points and yards. The only season they didn’t was one in which Andy Dalton, Garrett Gilbert and Ben DiNucci started a combined 11 games in place of an injured Dak Prescott. Unfortunately, the quarterback situation in New Orleans isn’t much better. Spencer Rattler appears to be in front, but after going 0-6 in 2024, he doesn’t inspire much confidence.
What Kellen Moore does have working for him is an offensive line that despite being unproven, at least has the promise and the pedigree of a unit that could eventually become one of the league’s best. Four of New Orleans’ five starters on the offensive line are former 1st Round Draft picks, and the only one who isn’t, Erik McCoy, was ranked by PFF as the NFL’s best center in 2024.
