The New Orleans Saints took a gamble by making Tyler Shough a second round pick in 2025. The well-traveled NCAA quarterback turned 26 years old early in his rookie season. His seven-year (!) college career showcased NFL tools, but he only played more than seven games once in those seasons.
This made a Day 2 selection look like an expensive bet from a desperate team. Fair enough. The Saints were stuck in the same phantom zone that consumes the Pittsburgh Steelers. A Hall of Fame quarterback beset by waning arm strength gave way to a string of underwhelming successors.
New Orleans was too good to sink to the top of the draft order but not nearly good enough for a playoff berth. Veteran retreads didn't work. Neither did a lineup of Day 3 prospects.
The sample size is small, but Shough exceeded expectations as a rookie. His 5-4 record as a starter included a pair of fourth quarter comebacks. But is he a franchise cornerstone, or is he just good enough to keep the Saints from finding one in the draft?
Let's take a look at what the Saints did around him this offseason and see if we can't glean a little clarity from it.
Key addition: WR Jordyn Tyson
The Saints spent big to ensure Tyler Shough's impressive rookie campaign won't be an outlier. They made Travis Etienne one of the league's highest-paid running backs to solve their ground game woes (which, given he's had a negative rush yards over expected in half his seasons as a pro, is… risky) and invested a top 10 pick on Tyson in hopes he'll serve as Batman to Chris Olave's Also Batman.
Tyson's strength is his versatility. He can line up anywhere head coach Kellen Moore needs, with the size (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) and straight line speed to thrive on the sideline and the route crispness to outmaneuver corners and safeties in the slot.
Ideally, he'll be able to free Olave up to run more intermediate and deep routes, as the veteran did the bulk of his work near the line of scrimmage (83 of his 156 targets came fewer than 10 yards downfield) and wasn't especially efficient there (-4.0 EPA and -37 yards after catch over expected vs.30.6 EPA and -12 YACOE when targeted deeper). If Tyson can stay healthy (he's already slated to miss the start of the season due to a hamstring injury, so...) and Bryce Lance can emerge as a viable deep threat as a rookie jumping up from the FCS (big ifs!), Shough could have a diverse, occasionally devastating group of receivers.
Key departure: LB Demario Davis
The Saints swapped out an inside linebacker in his late 30s making his return to the team that drafted him with… a less heralded inside linebacker in his early 30s, making his return to the team that drafted him. This is not a knock on Kaden Elliss, who emerged as one of the league's best blitzing off-ball players after leaving New Orleans in 2023. Elliss's return brings a player who has posted a missed tackle rate under seven percent in each of the last four seasons and who has recorded at least 100 pass rush reps every year in that span (he topped out at 21.5 percent pressure rates in 2023 and 2024, showcasing how effective he can be even if opponents are expecting him).
Coincidentally, Davis returned to the New York Jets after eight seasons (and five All-Pro nods) in Louisiana. The veteran isn't the force he once was, but he remained a steady tackler who was a force meeting tailbacks at the line of scrimmage. His deficiencies in coverage late in his career won't see much of a backfill with Elliss in town, which could leave New Orleans vulnerable in the middle of the field — and that's before taking in the veteran leadership he brought to the locker room.
Potential 2026 breakout player: DL Vernon Broughton
Singling out Tyler Shough feels too easy. The quarterback who engineeredthree game-winning drives and completed just under two-thirds of his passes despite the league's 10th-highest average target distance could well make the leap to Pro Bowl status and solidify his place as a franchise quarterback.
Broughton is more interesting — a 2025 third-round pick who played just 24 snaps as a rookie due to injury. He brings massive size and an explosive first step to the New Orleans front, where he's penciled in as a starter in the team's first depth charts. He may face a learning curve (it's basically his rookie season, after all), but has the potential to be an asset up front for a needy defense.
Position ranks
- QB rank (expected points added per dropback, via RBSDM.com): 23
- WR corps rank: 15
- RB corps rank: 27
- TE corps rank: 20
Will they improve in 2026?
About the same.. Tyler Shough may have some sophomore struggles. The defense has better depth and new playmakers have been added (though when we'll see Jordyn Tyson remains a big question). The Saints will be a volatile team in 2026. They should not be a boring one.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Saints 2026 season preview: New Orleans is Schrodinger's NFL team
