Tyler Shough has proven Saints didn't waste their 2025 2nd-round pick

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Tyler Shough has proven Saints didn't waste their 2025 2nd-round pick

December 23, 2025

Tyler Shough has proven Saints didn’t waste their 2025 2nd-round pick originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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During the 2025 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints were linked to a few different top quarterback options, and while the Saints took Kelvin Banks Jr. in round one, they took a quarterback in round two.

But, with Shedeur Sanders on the board, when Tyler Shough’s name popped up, there were many questioning the decision from the Saints to take a 2nd-round quarterback, let alone Shough, who was 26 years old.

Now, entering Week 17, Shough has proven those doubters wrong. Not only has Shough been a solid player for the Saints this season, but he’s also proven that the 2nd-round pick used to select him was not a waste. Instead, it’s been a huge boon.

How Saints didn’t waste 2nd-round pick on Tyler Shough

ESPN’s Katherine Terrell named Shough as the team’s rookie of the year, and for good reason. Since taking over at quarterback for the Saints, Shough has gone 4-3 and has been setting Saints records in the process.

“Even though he has played without several injured players on offense,” Terrell writes, “the excitement around the second-round pick hasn’t dampened. … Though most of the Saints’ rookie has contributed this season, it was Shough who turned around the second half of the season.”

While the Saints’ rookie quarterback still needs to improve overall, the promise he’s shown so far this season, especially amid the three-game winning streak, has been huge for the Saints.

More: Saints’ Taysom Hill makes his kind of football history never done in the NFL

Not only does his play mean the Saints don’t have to take a quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft, but it’s proven that their scouting and draft philosophy has worked.

Shough was a risk at 26 years old, but the Saints not only took him, but they selected him early in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

He has 1,792 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, five interceptions, and 146 rushing yards with two touchdowns on 38 attempts this season.

New Orleans has tried to find a franchise quarterback for some time, and now with Shough under center, it looks like the Saints and Kellen Moore have their guy for the 2026 season and beyond.

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