The Buccaneers’ unimpressive record vs rookie quarterbacks

As the New Orleans Saints have lost their starting quarterback Derek Carr to an oblique injury, they’ve decided to start rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler against NFC South rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday.

It’s an interesting decision, as it’s been second-year pro Jake Haener as the QB2 who’s filled in for Carr in the Saints’ blowout games and when he went down with the injury last week. Coach Dennis Allen attributed it to Rattler’s mobility as well as giving them the “best chance” to beat this particular opponent.

Bucs’ record against rookie QBs

What is a little bit funny about that comment is the fact that the Bucs don’t have the best record playing against rookie quarterbacks in recent history, although it has improved in the Todd Bowles era. Back in the 2010s, the Bucs went through a seven-year period of being 1-11 against rookie quarterbacks. Since Bowles arrived (as either defensive coordinator or head coach), they’ve improved to 11-6 against rookie quarterbacks.

I truly doubt the Saints actually chose to start Rattler solely based on this history. In fact, this year, the Bucs opened the season with a dominant win over Washington Commanders’ rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Then again, they suffered a pretty embarrassing 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos with rookie quarterback Bo Nix under center. So, it definitely could be a bit of a troll and a bit of a belief in this miserable history.

And despite the record improving, the rookie quarterbacks who have played against the Bucs actually had pretty great games, even the ones who lost. The average performance by the 17 rookie quarterback starters against Bowles’ Bucs defense since 2019 is 21-of-32 for 233 yards, 1.3 touchdowns, and 0.6 interceptions per game. It will be quite interesting to see how Rattler performs against Bowles’ defensive playcalling.