Monday brings us to six days before the New Orleans Saints regular season officially begins. New Orleans heads north to kick off the 2026 campaign, playing at the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. Wearing No. 6 for the Saints is Tyler Shough, their second-year quarterback coming off a rookie year with outstanding promise. Shough is burdened with heavy expectations, but has at least flashed the skills to meet them. We take a closer look at him now as our latest Saints Player of the Day.
- Name (age): Tyler Shough (26)
- Hometown: Chandler, Ariz.
- Position: Quarterback
- Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 219 pounds
- College: Louisville Cardinals
- Relative Athletic Score: 9.30
- Drafted: Round 2, 40th overall in 2025 (Saints)
- NFL experience: 1 year
- 2026 salary cap hit: $2.46 million
A four-star recruit and Arizona all-state selection, Shough would commit to Oregon among several other offers. He'd see light action in three games for the Ducks before taking a redshirt in 2018, then backed up starter Justin Herbert the following year as he threw
for 144 yards and 3 scores. Shough was the Oregon starter during a COVID-shortened 2020 season, leading the Ducks to a Pac-12 title while throwing for 1,559 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. Instead of returning to Oregon in 2021, Shough would transfer to Texas Tech. He won the starting job for the Red Raiders, passing for 872 yards and six scores in the first four games before suffering a season-ending collarbone injury. Again the Texas Tech starter in 2022, Shough missed a handful of games with a shoulder injury. He would play in seven contests and went 5-0 as a starter, throwing for 1,304 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. Set to be the Red Raiders' starter again in 2023, Shough was knocked out for the year in the fourth game with a broken fibula. He'd transfer once again after that season, this time landing with the University of Louisville for the final season of his eligibility.
In his first full year as starting quarterback, Shough would lead the Cardinals to an 8-4 mark. He completed 62.7% of his throws for 3,195 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions. Shough ended an injury-riddled college career with a 63% completion percentage, 7,820 passing yards, 59 touchdowns, and 23 interceptions. He also added 733 rushing yards and 11 scores on the ground.
In the 2025 NFL draft, Shough was taken by the New Orleans Saints in the second round with the 40th overall pick. He was the third quarterback off the board behind first-round picks Cam Ward and Jaxon Dart. Shough is also the first quarterback drafted in the first or second round since Archie Manning in 1971. In fact, Manning and Shough are the only two quarterbacks the Saints have selected in the first or second rounds in their 60-year history of drafting.
Despite a close preseason competition, the Saints handed the starting job to Spencer Rattler to open the 2025 campaign. Rattler and the offense were ineffective, so New Orleans turned to Shough as their starter in Week 9. Due to a thin roster further thinned by a lengthy list of injuries, Shough had little talent around him. Yet, he immediately gave a spark to the offense and played standout football down the stretch. Shough went 5-4 as a starter for the 6-11 Saints. He averaged 250 passing yards in his starts, completing 69% of his throws with 10 touchdowns, five interceptions, and another three touchdowns on the ground.
He's had a fairly small body of work, but Tyler Shough comes into 2026 with the expectations of being a star franchise quarterback. The Saints have shown their belief in him by surrounding him with a new running back, two new tight ends, and three new wide receivers. On paper, Shough has the tools around him to succeed. It's now up to him to take that critical next step in his development. The success of the 2026 Saints depends on that development.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Tyler Shough is the Saints Player of Day 6
