When the New Orleans Saints selected Tyler Shough with the 40th overall pick, the doubters were loud. Many viewed the move as a reach with prospects like Shedeur Sanders and Jalen Milroe still on the board.
But the 26-year-old rookie never let the noise get to him.
Once he was given the reins as the starter, Shough quickly flipped the narrative and put the football world on notice, emerging as one of the league’s most exciting young signal callers. Now an AP Offensive Rookie of the Year finalist, Shough continues to turn heads—most recently earning high praise from former Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme, who led the franchise to its first Super Bowl appearance during the 2003 NFL season.
Delhomme joined Arizona Cardinals insider Kyle Odegard for an exclusive interview with CasinoBeats, and here’s what he had to say about Shough’s rookie campaign.
After watching Shough play live twice, Delhomme said he was “very impressed” with the rookie and called the selection a “brilliant move” by head coach Kellen Moore and the Saints front office. He added that Shough “probably could have started” from the jump, but understood why Moore and the staff chose to let him develop with the scout team to open the season.
Delhomme said the Saints handled Shough’s rookie season perfectly:
“He played the preseason, and then let him sit and watch. Let him digest the season and how things go. Preseason is one thing. The regular season is very different. Preseason, you’re installing a playbook. So each day you’re building, building, building. Then once the season starts, it’s game-plan week. It’s game-plan specific. What is Kellen Moore like during the course of the season? And I think for a young kid to truly understand, this is not college, where you have some penciled-in wins along the way. That just doesn’t exist in the NFL. And so I thought they were brilliant in the way they handled him. They let him sit.“
When asked what he saw from Shough against the Panthers and down the stretch of the season, this is what Delhomme had to say:
“I thought the kid played well. He played well in Charlotte against us. We had him for a couple of sacks. He broke through those sacks and stepped up in the pocket, made big plays to Juwan Johnson. And then to Chris Olave. They got a win. And you saw them give him more and more as the season went on. Very big. Big kid, strong kid, strong arm. Ball comes out of his hand... Give them credit. I liked what I saw from them, and I think everyone in New Orleans is pretty excited. It’s funny, he’s going into year two, and he’s two years older than Bryce Young, who’s going into year four.”
Lastly, Delhomme credits some of Shough’s early maturity not only to his age and experience, but also to his college head coach, Jeff Brohm, a former NFL quarterback. Delhomme believes Shough’s development is far from finished and thinks the Who Dat Nation has every reason to be excited about the future:
“So big, strong, mature kid, coached very well in college. Especially his last year, playing for Jeff Brohm at Louisville. I love Jeff. Jeff’s maybe a little older than me, played in the NFL, but they develop quarterbacks. Footwork-wise. And so there’s a pretty good understanding when those kids get to the league playing for him. So, yeah, I think the ceiling’s pretty darn high for Shough. And I know people in New Orleans are pretty excited about it.”
