IRVINE, Calif. — Spencer Rattler will start Sunday’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.
But don’t count out Tyler Shough in the New Orleans Saints’ quarterback competition just yet.
Friday easily marked Shough’s best training camp practice of the summer as he looked confident, decisive and overall faster. It was the latest sign of growth for the second-round draft pick, who has seemed to turn a corner after starting particularly slow over his first few practices.
Shough’s learning curve was perhaps to be expected, but the Saints still needed to see progress from the 25-year-old. That has happened in droves lately. It started last Sunday when Shough began the Saints’ first scrimmage 8-of-8 before cooling off. But on Friday, in New Orleans’ second scrimmage, Shough hardly suffered a drop-off. He was aggressive — but more importantly, consistent.
At his best, Shough’s ball placement is the trait that arguably separates him from the other quarterbacks on the roster. And that was on full display in Friday’s practice. He hit Bub Means in a tight window on a play-action pass that was right on the money. Later, on third down, Shough rolled to his right, scanned the field and found Dante Pettis for 30 yards while withstanding pressure right in his face.
His most impressive throw, however, came inside the 10-yard line when he jumped to lob a pass right to Kevin Austin for a touchdown. On that play — another third down — Shough leapt so that he could still get the ball off with linebacker Pete Werner crashing in. Shough’s score also came against the first-team defense — even though he spent the afternoon with the 2’s.
That level of instinct had typically been reserved for Rattler this camp. But Shough has made those kinds of plays of late, and you can see his confidence starting to grow.
Here’s how apparent Shough’s confidence was in New Orleans’ 66-play scrimmage: After he fooled the entire defense on a keeper, Shough went running on the baseline of the end zone to high-five a small group of kids watching in the family and friends section.
Coach Kellen Moore seemed impressed with Shough’s decision to keep the ball for the score, too. He told reporters after practice that 95% of the time that play is supposed to go to the running back, but Shough made an instinctive call to end up with points.
With all that said, let’s take a look at the numbers during Friday’s session:
Rattler: 12-16 (92-134 overall)
Shough: 10-14 (84-134)
Haener: 3-8 (71-105)
Did Shough close the gap on Rattler for the starting job? As good a day as Shough had, that’s hard to say. After all, Rattler was almost equally sharp. He displayed an impressive chemistry with Rashid Shaheed, who filled in as the team’s No. 1 receiver with Chris Olave nursing an ankle injury.
Rattler thrived on deep play-action throws, such as when he found Shaheed for a 30-yard touchdown. On that score, Rattler quickly identified that Shaheed was in a mismatch and let it rip. Rattler has displayed a consistent level of decisiveness throughout camp, and that may ultimately be the reason he wins the starting job.
But for the Saints, it was important for Shough to be decisive as well. And that’s happened more and more lately.