Spencer Rattler’s work with Olave, Shaheed remains limited

By Ross Jackson

As New Orleans Saints fans continue to weigh who they want to see as the team’s next starting quarterback, a lot of nuanced conversation can come into play. 

One of the big talking points is that second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler hasn’t seen preseason snaps with the Saints’ starting wide receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. 

But the absence of the top two wideouts for Rattler goes far beyond the 2025 preseason. In fact, grouping together all of Rattler’s playing time from his rookie preseason participation, he’s had Shaeed and Olave together in the field for just two drop backs. 

The pair of passing plays came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A 27-yard passing completion to tight end Juwan Johnson, along with a five yard completion to Olave that resulted in a hard hit and fumble that took him out of the game. 

Rattler has seen additional opportunities with Shaheed and Olave separately, but the observations that he has not had a full complement of receivers during his live action holds water. 

However, this should not have much bearing on the quarterback competition. While fans may not have seen much of Rattler, or competitor Tyler Shough for that matter, with the top pass-catchers, the coaches absolutely have. 

Both quarterbacks have been taking snaps with the first unit all throughout training camp, including the joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams during their final practice in California. 

While those might not have taken place in live action, aside from a collection of Shough’s snaps in his start against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they are still reps that very much factor into the team’s upcoming decision. 

There is no doubt that Rattler has seen limited snaps with starting talent around him dating back to last year’s preseason. But that hasn’t stopped players like wide receivers Mason Tipton and Dante Pettis from helping the young passer make his mark in a big moment. What this limited exposure to two wideouts does achieve is a greater appreciation of those big moments.