Saints Get Odd Critique After Tyler Shough Addition

One thing that is true about the National Football League -- and professional sports as a whole -- is that everyone isn't always going to be satisfied.

There are very few moves that are universally supported. For example, the New Orleans Saints recently picked Tyler Shough as potentially the team's answer of the future at quarterback. This move has gotten a lot of love, but there have been some who haven't liked the pick.

It sounds like Pro Football Focus' Trevor Sikkema is one of those people. He shared a column "swapping reaches" from the recent draft and said the Saints should've taken EDGE Donovan Ezeiruaku instead of Shough.

"New Orleans Saints," Sikkema said. "EDGE Donovan Ezeiruaku for QB Tyler Shough. This pick swap can be summed up as: I was not big on Tyler Shough, who ranked 133rd on my big board, and the Saints took him at pick No. 40. Even with the quarterback position tax, that is a reach. The need for a quarterback is understandable, as Derek Carr is dealing with a shoulder injury, but Shedeur Sanders, Will Howard or even Riley Leonard should have been considered before Shough — though I would have only considered Sanders at No. 40.

"The Saints could have instead moved away from the quarterback position entirely, especially with a top pass rusher still on the board in Donovan Ezeiruaku. He was one of the top 20 players on PFF's big board as a player who earned a 90.7 PFF pass-rush grade against true pass sets with an 18.2 percent pass-rush win rate in 2024. New Orleans still needs to get more one-on-one winners on the edge, and he could have been a year-one impact player for the team."

Ezeiruaku is a talented player coming off a season in which he had 16.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss for Boston College. He absolutely could've helped the Saints, but Shough clearly is the guy New Orleans wanted. They haven't taken a quarterback this high since Archie Manning, so Shough clearly has impressed the Saints' front office more than the media.

More NFL: Saints’ Tyler Shough Early Reviews Overwhelmingly One-Sided