By Ross Jackson
The history of the New Orleans Saints can’t be told without celebrating the impact of former head coach Sean Payton. He brought the city its first Super Bowl championship and helped transform the Saints into a globally recognized brand. Over his tenure, Payton was, without question, the greatest coach in franchise history—paired with its greatest quarterback and most successful era.
Those are big shoes to fill for the team’s new head coach Kellen Moore. While Moore isn’t the first coach to take the reins after Payton in the Big Easy, he will be the first offensive-minded leader to step into the position. Comparing the two may be pointless, but it’s a conversation that will continue for years to come.
With all that Payton achieved, Moore has the chips stacked against him. However, despite those lofty expectations, it’s Moore that has a chance to do something that Payton never did: develop a quarterback from draft pick to starter.
Payton had the luxury of a franchise quarterback from the moment he and Drew Brees stepped foot in New Orleans back in 2006. During Payton’s tenure (2006-2021), the Saints drafted just four quarterbacks in the NFL Draft.
- Sean Canfield was selected in the seventh round of the 2010 draft.
- Garrett Grayson was chosen as a 2015 third-round pick.
- The Saints drafted Tommy Stevens as a passer in 2020, but tried to move him to a different position (tight end) to no avail.
- They went back to the well in 2021 with fourth-rounder Ian Book.
Among them, Canfield and Grayson never took a single snap in a regular season NFL game, Stevens never registered a passing attempt (has four career rushes for 24 yards), and Book saw one start during a Covid-19 decimated game on Monday Night Football in 2021, where he went 12-of-20 for 135 passing yards and a pair of interceptions.
Less than ideal.
Now, New Orleans never felt the impact of its lack of developed young passers because of Brees, but also because of Payton’s impressive success with free agent quarterbacks. Teddy Bridgewater finished 5-1 as a Saints starter (5-0 in 2019) and Jameis Winston was 5-2 under Payton in 2021 before suffering a season-ending injury.
Payton’s best development example at the position is far and away do-it-all offensive weapon Taysom Hill. Though Hill’s peak stems from his ability to do everything on the football field more than it comes from his capabilities as a winning quarterback, which he was. Hill still holds a 7-2 record as a starting quarterback during the nine the starts he received in 2020 and 2021 under Payton.
This is where Moore has an opportunity to separate himself from the otherwise unfair expectations of Payton’s shadow.
Whether the Saints draft a quarterback in this year’s class, next year’s, or eventually hand the reins to second-year passer Spencer Rattler after Derek Carr’s time as the starter, the future at the position remains open.
Regardless of how it plays out, head coach Kellen Moore will have a chance to prove he can be a true quarterback developer—something no coach in the franchise’s modern history has truly accomplished.
Moore, a former NFL quarterback and the winningest passer in college football history has two more former NFL signal callers on his staff at key positions for the development of their next franchise gunslinger.
Kellen Moore is on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame🔵🟠
A reminder of his accomplishments…
Winningest QB in college football history
2nd all-time in career passing IDs
3rd in career passing efficiency
5th in career passing yards📰 https://t.co/LEXGZ829Bx… pic.twitter.com/dXL7wG70dw
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) June 3, 2024
Doug Nussmeier, the offensive coordinator, was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round of the 1994 draft. Meanwhile, Scott Tolzien, the team’s quarterbacks coach, entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2011 to the then-San Diego Chargers.
With three quarterbacks leading the development potential of a young draft pick in the near future, the Saints and Moore could look to turn things over to their next starter as a homegrown talent, rather than a free agent addition. Though, if the right situation presents itself, the latter is clearly a perfectly acceptable option.
Whether it’s Rattler, Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar, or another quarterback from a future draft, Moore has the talent, experience, staff, and organizational patience necessary to do something Payton never got the chance to do in developing the next generation of quarterback from the draft to the gridiron.
