7 years, 3 fractures and 0 excuses: Tyler Shough the new QB who could surprise the Saints and the entire NFL

The New Orleans Saints were decimated by injury last year, and finished as one of the worst team in the league. It cost their coach, Dennis Allen his job, and in the offseason they saw their starting quarterback, Derrick Carr, retire as injuries accumulated and forced him him to hang it up.

Three teams, seven years and one dream

Now the Saints are in a rebuilding year, and have a quarterback situation that is less and ideal heading into the preseason. While fans might not be thrilled about the QB outlook, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough sees this as an opportunity after a long and winding road to the NFL.

Shough was a top ten rated QB coming out of high school in 2018. He committed to Oregon but spent most of his time backing up Justin Herbert. Once Herbert left he was forced to split time as the starting QB, and lost grip of his part time duties late in the season. Once he was out of favor in Oregon, he sought greener pastures somewhere else.

He ended up transferring to Texas Tech, but injuries plagued him in three consecutive seasons. The last of which was a fractured fibula, which brought his time in Lubbock, Texas to an end. His best season as a Running Rebel came in 2022 when he had 1,304 yards passing with 7 TDs and 4 INTs. He put up the same amount of TDs and INTs before his fibula injury, but still hadn’t made his mark in the minds of NFL scouts.

The redemption year

Shough left Lubbock, and went to Louisville for his 7th and final season in college. For the first time in his entire college career, he played through an entire season. After 12 games, Shough threw for 3,195 yards, 23 TDs and just 6 INTs. That put him on the radar for NFL teams coming into the Draft, and it was the Saints that took a chance on the 25 year old quarterback with the 40th pick.

He knows he has his work cut out for him if he is going to be the starter, but he is ready not just for a QB competition, but ready for what could be a bumpy ride should he be the QB1 at the start of the season. “I think for me and what I’ve been through: I’ve been carted off the field, I’ve been booed, I’ve been an MVP, I’ve been a starter, I’ve been a backup to Herbert — I’m like, throw some s*** at me, you’re not going to faze me if we start off 0-2 or I f***ing suck,”

With no Derrick Carr around, new coach Kellen Moore has a QB room that consisted of Shough, second year QB Spencer Rattler, and third year QB Jake Haener. The job is up for grabs, and the rookie knows this is an opportunity that seemed impossible not too long ago. Shough continued: “It’s going to be fine. That’s why I was excited about that opportunity, or any opportunity.”