Saints QB Battle Tightens: Rattler vs Shough Camp Stats

By Ross Jackson

As the New Orleans Saints’ next preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars looms, the quarterback battle is only getting tighter and more competitive. 

Watching Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough throughout 16 practice days (including one walkthrough)  and a preseason game has driven home that a competitive battle will always be better than one in which a candidate runs away with the job. 

The two have pushed one another, grown, taken chances, found success and navigated adversity. Here are the numbers they’ve compiled thus far in passing drills not including routes on air and one-on-ones, which help to tell only a part of the story of this intriguing duel. 

Camp Totals

Rattler: 146/206 (70.9%) with 15 passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns and six interceptions

Shough: 119/196 (60.7%) with 10 passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and four interceptions

Obviously the numbers only tell so much of the story. There were several red zone days that resulted in impressive touchdown numbers, there are some 7-on-7 and 9-on-7 reps included in these totals which can bolster completion numbers and percentages and there were successful runs at scenarios that didn’t need to result in touchdown passes. 

But as an overall snapshot, the two quarterbacks performed well. You can see a clear shift in the battle as camp moved from one location to another. 

Metairie. La. 

Rattler: 89/124 (71.8%) with eight passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns and four interceptions

Shough: 72/120 (60%) with five passing touchdowns and four interceptions

Shough started to close the gap in the final week or so of Metairie practices once the team moved into more live-called situations. Though his completion percentage remained low from his early start, the rookie became more comfortable and started taking more risks as time went on. 

Rattler had immediately settled in after spending time getting valuable regular season experience in 2024. He jumped out to an early lead in the duel by being decisive, quick and precise. His 71.8 percent completion rate was a massive improvement from his 57 percent mark from last season. That is in line with his 69 eprcent adjusted completed percentage, per Pro Football Focus. Adjusted percentages take into account on-target throws and drops. 

Irvine, Calif. 

Rattler: 57/82 (69.5%) with seven passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and two interceptions

Shough: 47/76 (61.8%) with five touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown

Rattler maintained his high completion percentage while Shough ticked up a bit. Shough completed 62.1 percent of his passes while at Louisville last year and boasts an impressive 75.1 percent adjusted rate. There’s no doubt he can deliver a pass in target, but settling into the NFL speed and window size for passes requires patience. 

Both players protected the ball while in California, even during a joint practice against the Los Angeles Rams, with neither throwing an interception. The duo averaged .73 interceptions per practice in Louisiana versus .4 per in California. 

The two picks thrown by Rattler require context. One was a well-placed pass to wide receiver Dante Pettis, which careened off of his hands and into those of safety Julian Blackmon. The second was intercepted by Blackmon in the end zone during an end-of-game two-minute drive situation wherein the offense was down seven points. With two seconds left on the clock and facing a third-and-10 as the result of a false start the play before, Rattler had to just put it up and see who could make a play. 

You can find more context and information on each day of camp and each quarterback’s stats by going back through previous practice day notes. 

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16