Saints’ Tyler Shough Pick Hints At Organizational Change

The Saints made a big change in the NFL Draft...

Sep 8, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the New Orleans Saints football helmet before the game against the Carolina Panthers during the pregame at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Saints strayed away from typical organizational philosophy in the second round of the 2025 National Football League Draft.

New Orleans had the No. 40 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Saints had been linked to a wide range of prospects, including quarterbacks. New Orleans actually did end up taking a quarterback at the No. 40 pick and landed Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough.

The thing that’s actually the most surprising move is the fact that it’s the highest a quarterback has been taken in New Orleans since Archie Manning was taken with the No. 2 pick in the 1971 draft, as shared by team reporter John DeShazier.

"If nothing else can be said about Tyler Shough, definitively state that the New Orleans Saints' second-round pick (No. 40 overall) in 2025 appreciates the opportunity ahead, because he has left a heaping portion of adversity behind," DeShazier said.

"Shough, the Saints' highest-drafted quarterback since Archie Manning was the No. 2 overall pick in 1971, redshirted as a freshman at Oregon in 2018. He was the backup to Justin Herbert in '19, started seven games in the Covid 2020 season, transferred to Texas Tech in 2021 and broke his collarbone in week 4, played seven games in an injury-interrupted 2022, broke his fibula in week 4 of 2023, transferred to Louisville for 2024 and logged his only injury-free, uninterrupted year of college football."

Now, that’s pretty surprising. The Saints obviously have had some success with the quarterback position. New Orleans had Drew Brees for what felt like forever and things haven't been the same since.

They haven’t necessarily needed to nab a quarterback in the first or second round. But that isn’t the case any longer. New Orleans needed a new signal-caller and now has one in Shough.

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