By Ross Jackson
Of the 46 quarterbacks drafted on Day 3 of the NFL Draft since 2017, over 50% have gotten the opportunity to start a game in the pros. New Orleans Saints quarterback Jake Haener became the 24th last weekend. While things didn’t work out the way he and the Saints would have hoped, it turns out that’s simply par for the course for draftable quarterbacks taken beyond the third round.
New Orleans has seen promise form another quarterback in this bunch–Spencer Rattler. The former South Carolina quarterback was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 draft.
Over the course of training camp, the preseason and his four games of regular season action, he has shown more promise than the majority of his peers.
He himself admits he hasn’t been perfect, but when comparing him to the upcoming quarterback class in 2025, it may behoove the Saints to simply focus on the development of Rattler for another year rather than roll the dice on what has been a sinking quarterback class.
The 2025 quarterback class was already underwhelming. Outside of the top prospects like Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, there were maybe one or at most a couple of gems to shoot for in the middle of the first round. And even those top prospects have some big question marks around their ability to transition to the NFL.
Those question marks will be some other teams’ to answer more than likely, as New Orleans doesn’t look like they will be drafting high enough for either Ward or Sanders to fall into its range. However if either did, there should be some real consideration there.
But with the recent news that quarterbacks like LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and, more impactfully, Penn State’s Drew Allar will return to school for 2025, the Saints may be better off skipping this class of passers altogether and revisiting should the need of a future passer linger into 2026.
That is, unless the team is looking to land another do-it-all Taysom Hill type. Army quarterback Bryson Daily and Alabama passer Jalen Milroe are popular names for that role.
Daily is likely to be a priority free agent or a late Day 3 pick for the guarantee of acquiring him. Milroe, who has not yet made his decision regarding the draft, should be treated as a quarterback first. His athletic ability is off the charts, and he would help this draft class not look so depleted. But if positionlessness is the target, the Saints may be better off looking elsewhere.
The bottom line is that Rattler simply provides more promise as a pure quarterback right now than the Saints’ realistic option in the upcoming draft class. Focusing the development efforts on a guy that has been in your system for a year, or even Haener who will have been around for two, is a more constructive approach than rolling the dice all over again.
If things didn’t work out with Rattler, who does have the odds against him as a Day 3 guy, then the 2026 class is looking a lot more fruitful all of a sudden. But for now, the Saints should consider skipping an investment at the position for 2025.
