By Ross Jackson
Every year it seems there’s a late riser connected to the New Orleans Saints days before the NFL Draft. Running back Jonathan Taylor, cornerback Jaycee Horn and quarterback Malik Willis were among the group in recent years. This year, it looks like Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough is the latest.
ESPN’s Matt Miller, who has also said that he doesn’t see the team reaching for a quarterback in this year’s first round, selected Shough as the player that would best fill a “big need” for the Saints.
In the exercise repeat selections were not allowed and the other top quarterbacks were already off the board.
But Shough’s name continues to come up in connection with New Orleans outside of the first round as well. Three analysts from ESPN also weighed in on buying or selling the team’s interest in Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
One analyst brought while two sold, including Miller. The other insider that was out in the idea of Sanders to New Orleans was Field Yates who included his own reference to Shough and the Saints.
“One nugget, though,” Yates said. “ While I generally lean away from the Saints taking a QB with the ninth pick, some evaluators believe Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart and Louisville’s Tyler Shough are legitimate targets for the Saints over the course of the draft.”
The late-process rise of Shough in conversations around the Saints is reminiscent of 2021’s last minute connections between New Orleans and then-Stanford passer Davis Mills.
“It’s not about longevity, it’s about development and evaluation.”@minakimes believes Tyler Shough is pro-ready and “looks more polished on tape” than Jaxson Dart ✍️ pic.twitter.com/eRjjXsCl4r
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 7, 2025
Both were considered by some evaluators as the most “pro-ready” passers in the draft. New Orleans passed on Mills twice by not taking him in the first (No. 28 overall) or second (No. 60 overall) rounds before he was eventually drafted by the Houston Texans at No. 67 in the third round.
We’ll see if New Orleans does the same with Shough this year or if they do think highly enough of the Louisville product to snatch him nearly in this year’s draft.
