It’s an exciting time for the New Orleans Saints as they get the rare off season excitement of drafting and starting a rookie quarterback. The team selected Louisville’s Tyler Shough with the 40th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft just a few days before the teams presumed starter, Derek Carr, announced his retirement. Now the 26-year-old rookie sees himself thrown into a situation in The Big Easy that may put him under center week one.
Sports Illustrted’s Gilberto Manzano caught up with the rookie to discuss everything from the pronunciation of his name to his dogs new found fame. Manzano asked him about how he is liking Nola so far.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Shough responded, “Obviously, it’s different with the humidity—different environment. You’re close to the Gulf. You’re down there. The people are awesome. The food is, obviously, really, really good. So everything is different in a great way, and I’ve been there the past few weeks really early. I wanted to go down there, get acclimated, meet some of my new teammates, and just get started on everything.”
Shough Speaks On Draft Process
Tyler Shough was the first domino to fall in what turned out to be one of the most shocking draft slides in NFL history for Shedeur Sanders. Manzano asked Shough if he had any idea that he was going to be the Saints’ guy prior to the draft.
“I was surprised because I hadn’t heard from them since our visit,” Shough told Manzano. “I think usually that’s a good thing if you don’t hear anything from them. I’m not sure, though. After I left there, I was, ‘Man, this would be a really good scenario.’ Just the people there, the whole staff, it was very attractive, and I love the system as well. Once it finally happened, it was like a huge weight off my chest because I was like, ‘Man, this would be good.’ And then they were on the clock, and it finally happened and it was awesome.”
Shough also opened up about his battle with injuries in his college career.
“You try every single day to appreciate it,” Shough said. “I’m super grateful for it just because I got that perspective of not knowing if I was going to play, and I know deep down inside me that I can be as good as I want to be. It hasn’t really hit some days because I’m going from back to back to back things and I got to New Orleans pretty early, right after the draft. It’s definitely busy, but what else would you rather be doing? I love it.”
PFF Ranks Shough Worst Quarterback In The League
Pro Football Focus has put out their annual pre season rankings of all 32 starters across the league. Coming in at dead last, the very rearmost name, was New Orleans’ Tyler Shough.
As if the number wasn’t insulting enough, PFF pulled no punches when assessing the quarterback situation in Nola.
“One of the most surprising developments of the 2025 NFL Draft was Tyler Shough being the third quarterback off the board,” the article read. “Between Shough, Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener, the Saints’ quarterback room is arguably the weakest in the league. Regardless of who starts, expectations are low…”
