How Saints' Tyler Shough lost QB competition to Spencer Rattler

First-year New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore confirmed on Tuesday that 2024 fifth-round draft pick Spencer Rattler will be the club's starting quarterback over rookie Tyler Shough for New Orleans' Week 1 game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 7.

On Wednesday morning, Katherine Terrell of ESPN shared how Shough lost a competition he seemed to be winning when springtime workouts wrapped up in June.

"To make this decision," Terrell explained, "the Saints analyzed practice data, took into account how Rattler and Shough learned from mistakes and factored in their game performances."

Moore wasn't with the Saints when they drafted Rattler and when he went 0-6 as a starter during his rookie season. In total, Rattler completed just 57 percent of 228 passes during the 2024 campaign. 

Meanwhile, the coaching staff led by Moore scouted prospects before the Saints made Shough the 40th overall choice of this year's draft. Outsiders assumed in the spring that the QB1 gig was Shough's to lose, but that was before Rattler surprisingly emerged as the favorite to win the competition earlier in August. 

According to Reuters, Rattler connected on 30-of-43 pass attempts for 295 yards with one touchdown and one interception during the preseason. He also rushed for 41 yards on seven attempts. To compare, Shough completed 36-of-54 passes for 333 yards with a score and a pick. He also rushed three times for 23 yards and a touchdown.

"There was a clear separation when training camp started between Rattler and Shough," Terrell continued. "Rattler had been through one training camp and an entire season, while Shough was still finding his footing as a rookie." 

Terrell added that Shough simply wasn't able to "shake off Rattler's early lead" by the time that Rattler worked with the starting offense for three drives in New Orleans' preseason finale against the Denver Broncos. 

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Saints as 6.5-point underdogs for their Week 1 home game against the Cardinals. It remains to be seen how Moore will react if Rattler has a rough outing on the first Sunday of September.