The moment of truth has arrived for Tyler Shough.
All the years of dreaming and scheming, playing and praying have delivered him to this point.
It’s time to see if he has what it takes to be a starting NFL quarterback.
This is the situation he has planned and prepared for since he was a kid, wearing a Brett Favre jersey and slinging the ball around his yard in the Phoenix suburbs.
“You can call it a dream, I guess,” Shough said. “I’ve always believed it (might happen).”
Shough will earn the first start of his nascent NFL career against the Rams on Sunday in Los Angeles. In so doing, he will join exclusive company. Only six other rookie quarterbacks have started for the New Orleans Saints in their 59-year history. The last one to be drafted as highly as Shough, a second round selection from Louisville, was Archie Manning in 1971.
Shough will be thrown into the deep end for his starting debut. The Los Angeles Rams run one of the most sophisticated defensive schemes in the NFL. They are ranked in the top 5 of almost every major defensive category. Their defensive line features the best edge tandem in the league: NFL sack leader Byron Young and 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse.
It'll be a sink-or-swim experience for Shough at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
“They’re defense is incredibly good,” Shough said. “What a great opportunity to go out there and let it rip.”
Shough and the Saints are going into this thing with their eyes wide open. They know there will be growing pains along the way. With that mind, the club is giving him a long leash. Barring injury, Shough will be the starter, and Spencer Rattler will be the backup. There will be no more flip-flopping between the two. This is Shough’s job and Shough’s team.
“We’re not doing this back-and-forth thing,” Moore said.
He added that having Shough as the permanent starter “is certainly the goal.”
Moore declined to discuss the big picture, but it’s evident. This is essentially a nine-game audition. How Shough fares over the next two months is significant – not just for his future, but also the franchise’s.
The Saints are staring at a 3-4-win season, which would land them a Top 5 selection in April’s NFL Draft.
If Shough passes the test, he likely will become the permanent starter, freeing the Saints to look elsewhere for help in the draft.
If he fails, the Saints will be forced to look at quarterback options, starting with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Alabama’s Ty Simpson.
A third options remains, albeit an unlikely one that few have considered: Shough plays well, but the Saints fall in love with a quarterback prospect in the draft and use him as a potential trade asset. See: Chicago, 2024, and Caleb Williams-Justin Fields.
So there’s a lot on the line over the next two months, both for Shough and the Saints.
“We’re really excited about this opportunity for him,” Moore said. “I feel like Tyler is ready to go.”
He’ll need to be in order to turn around the Sants’ listless offense. The Saints rank near the bottom of the league in most key offensive categories. They’re 29th in scoring (16-points-a-game average) and 27th in total offense (295.0 yards a game). They’re 28th in rushing and dead last in red zone offense.
The Saints offense has gradually actually declined in both scoring and yards gained annually since former head coach Sean Payton acolyte Pete Carmichael was fired as offensive coordinator in 2023.
Can Shough turn things around?
Time will tell.
Since Drew Brees retired in 2020, the Saints and their loyal legion of fans have turned their lonely eyes to a parade of offensive saviors in recent years, from Derek Carr to Klint Kubiak to Spencer Rattler to Kellen Moore. So far, none of them have been able to rekindle the magic of the golden Payton-Brees era.
“It’s one game, it’s one week,” Moore said. “(Shough doesn’t) have to make it any bigger than it is. The biggest thing is growth.”
Moore would never say it publicly, but this was the plan all along. The Saints selected Shough with the No. 40 overall pick in the May draft to eventually be their starter. It was only a matter of time until they handed him the keys to the offense. That time has arrived. Now, it’s up to Shough to deliver.