METAIRIE, La. — As pressure closed in on Tyler Shough during a two-minute drill Thursday, the New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback drifted back.
Shough’s “foot got caught,” he explained later, but he tried to heave a throw up anyway.
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The 2025 second-round draft pick knew even before safety Jordan Howden intercepted the pass that his decision was flawed.
“I threw it late over the middle and it was just kind of a cardinal sin of quarterback play, where you can’t do that — especially if you’re off-balance,” Shough told Yahoo Sports on Thursday afternoon. “It was completely on me just putting it up for grabs, and that’s something you never want to do.”
The undesirable end to Shough’s first series in the 11-on-11 portion of practice Thursday frustrated him. Then he realized an opportunity awaited. Head coach Kellen Moore and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier told Shough: Yes, you threw an interception. But get ready to go again.
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Shough capped off his next two-minute drive hitting receiver Mason Tipton for a 15-yard touchdown over the middle after a double move.
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The Saints lauded Shough’s resilience.
“I care more about how they respond to the interception than that an interception occurred, especially right now,” Moore told Yahoo Sports. “Obviously, that will have to change as we go. [But] there’s testing yourself and learning from lessons, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
With three quarterbacks in-house and none locked in as the 2025 starter, the Saints are testing and learning their way to a quarterback decision. Only one quarterback per day is receiving first-team reps as Moore desires to help them establish a rhythm. But the QB1 du jour has shifted throughout training camp as the Saints aim to eliminate variables in their player comparisons.
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New Orleans 2024 fifth-round draft pick Spencer Rattler took first-team reps Thursday, following up a two-minute series that ended in a pass batted at the line of scrimmage (Hail Mary chances aren’t granted in the exercise) with his own touchdown to receiver Rashha 5.
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Rattler, admittedly with the best surrounding cast, looked the strongest of New Orleans’ trio on Thursday — and he’s plenty confident he’ll win the gig. But it’s unlikely the Saints make a decision until at least after their Aug. 10 preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Preseason games are data points the coaching staff values, a lens into how quarterbacks weather the physicality of live tackles and sacks, and a lens into how they navigate operations and use cadence at the line of scrimmage.
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There will be no QB1 in New Orleans yet.
“Whenever it happens, it happens,” Moore said. “I couldn’t put a timeline on it and obviously the sooner you make the decision, the more those guys get reps solely with the ones. But we’ll let these guys all compete.
“Right now, all three of those guys are getting pretty balanced reps.”
What do Rattler, Haener and Shough bring to table?
Selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, 26-year-old Jake Haener is the oldest and longest-tenured quarterback in the Saints’ young quarterback room.
Each of the three candidates was drafted by New Orleans, one in each of the past three drafts. Only Shough was selected with the blessing of the current coaching staff, whom Moore assembled after coordinating the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl offense.
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While that may help his long-term case, Shough must first overcome his place as the least experienced in the room.
Rattler started six games last season while Haener started one. The Saints lost them all amid a rash of injuries and the in-season firing of head coach Dennis Allen, both pieces of context Moore and his staff consider when processing the relevance of the losses.
Rattler completed 57% of 228 pass attempts for 1,317 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions in his unexpected rookie debut. Haener completed 46.2% of his 39 attempts, throwing for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
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“Gettin’ thrown in that fire way earlier than expected last year … woke me up,” Rattler told Yahoo Sports. “I think I grew a lot. Really feel more decisive now. Just feel like I can use my legs more, that’s an advantage to me.
“And then just play free — play my style of game.”
Rattler expects Moore’s style to accentuate his own style, the introduction of more no-huddle and up-tempo concepts than last year’s Shanahan system befitting both his athletic strengths and his personality.
“It’s definitely faster, play with some swagger, some tempo,” Rattler said. “Distribute the ball like a point guard, get it out to playmakers. And we got plenty of them.”
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Haener got a late start on the physical element of acclimating to the new system, a torn oblique sidelining him until after minicamp in June. But Haener draws upon his college experiences to understand the concepts Moore is teaching, with Haener first playing for Moore’s college head coach Chris Petersen at Washington and then quarterbacking an offense coordinated by Moore’s brother, Kirby, at Fresno State.
That, paired with Moore’s high level of detail and efficiency, are smoothing the system transition.
“The way he installs things, he allows us to be inside his head,” Haener told Yahoo Sports. “He’ll mention things like, ‘Hey, this [one] concept that we have, this is a completion play. This is what I’m saying on second-and-8, it’s something that I want, it’s a completion-driven play to get us in third-and-manageable ahead of the sticks.
“When he allows us to hear his thought process … we get a better understanding of what he wants from a specific play.”
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Shough hopes that understanding will be a strength of his over time, believing his mental processing and strong arm boosted his draft stock after injuries extended his college career across a full seven years. He’s practiced play calls with his wife, beginning with formations and protections and graduating to plays and play families. Shough said his biggest adjustment is Moore’s use of shifts and motions.
“It’s just a lot on our plate,” Shough said. “We have to make sure splits are right and motion landmarks and that stuff can make or break the play.
“[Moore] does a really good job of utilizing motions and shifts and different ways to present it to the defense.”
Saints QBs confident in their respective chance: ‘I’ve been the best quarterback on the field’
The three quarterbacks do not present their perspective on the position battle all that differently.
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Rattler, Shough and Haener each expressed strong confidence in his play and ability to win the starting job during Thursday interviews with Yahoo Sports. Their language and reasoning shifted, but each signaled an expectation that he could and will start for the franchise.
Rattler wasn’t fazed when the Saints selected Shough with the 40th overall pick in April.
“I know what I bring to the table,” said Rattler, who noted that he has taken second- but not third-team reps on days when first-team reps were allocated elsewhere. “I was confident in what I can do in this competition. I feel like that brings the best out of me. And I feel like throughout this camp, I’ve been the best quarterback on the field.
“So I want to keep that going and keep showing the team, keep showing the guys, keep showing the coaches that I want to be that guy.”
The Saints’ Spencer Rattler is confident he’ll be QB1 for Week 1. (Photo by Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)
(Derick E. Hingle via Getty Images)
Shough’s confidence was directed more broadly to the mindset with which he approached the pre-draft process and has continued his rookie onboarding.
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“I’m going to go out there and compete, have fun doing it, and it’s not going to go perfectly,” he said. “But I’m going to be the last one standing at the end of the day if I can do something about it.”
Haener derived confidence from his fourth-and-15 red-zone touchdown to end practice Thursday, a play-call he says Moore allowed him to choose and implement. On a day like Thursday when he took third-team reps, he aimed to maximize those snaps and continue proving he brings something to the quarterback room.
“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Haener said. “I know that I’m a good player. I know I can play in this league for a long time and at the end of the day, it’s just waiting for that opportunity.”
By mid-August, one of the Saints’ quarterbacks will have a QB1 opportunity. Each of the three candidates leave questions to answer. But Moore and the Saints will look for answers among a group that insists it’s friendly amid healthy competition.
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Rattler and Haener are entering Year 2 of competing against each other, the duo battling this week at the bowling lanes and in individual drills.
Haener edged Rattler by one completion during a Wednesday individual drill, Haener completing 8 of 11 throws to Rattler’s 7. Each sought to best the other, from total completions to emulating a 20-yard out and beyond.
Moments like that convince the Saints quarterbacks that their room will be fine whoever wins the Week 1 job — and regardless of whether the Week 1 starter keeps his job through the duration of the regular season.
“I’ve been in competitions before and it’s not always as good as this one is, where sometimes some guy is insecure with himself and he has a particular way about himself,” Haener said. “I don’t think that is this room at all. I think we’re all comfortable with who we are. We’re all confident in each other’s games. We all respect one another’s games.
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“At the end of the day we know that coach is going to put the guy that he thinks is going to be able to win the most games on the field. And like I said, we’re all going to have each other’s back.”
