Moore favors more than physical tools in starting quarterback

By Ross Jackson

As the dust settles on Airline Drive following the shocking retirement of New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr, the focus turns to the team’s future at quarterback.

🏈 @tylershough2 ➡️ @MatavaoMoliki #Saints pic.twitter.com/mLV26Jzkwb

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) May 10, 2025

Saints head coach Kellen Moore declared an open competition among his young quarterbacks in his post-rookie minicamp media availability with reporters.

“We’re going to let all three roll,” he said of quarterbacks Jake Haener, Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough. “They’ve all earned these opportunities. We’ll let Jake, Spencer and Tyler, all three, kind of go through this process again. We’ll play it patient, let these guys compete, let them get into training camp and naturally these guys will kind of take care of it.”

After announcing the competition, Moore described what he will be looking for from his young passers in order to determine who is ready to take on the starting role. Moore acknowledged that while the physical traits will always capture the eye, it’s the more nuanced side of the game that may separate these signal callers.

“I think a lot of it comes into the operation,” Moore said. “And the way they operate the offense, the way they communicate with everyone on the field. Again, the quarterback has no choice, it’s a leadership role, and there’s no real way around that. So, it’s really, really important to see those guys take ownership and go for it.”

Interestingly, the qualities Moore highlighted here strongly align with the qualities he said stuck out about Shough following day two of the NFL Draft.

“He had a lot of tools at the line of scrimmage,” Moore said of his rookie quarterback. “He had the ability to get in and out of plays. Some of those intangible things, I think, are very valuable. So he has experience doing that, you know, checking and making decisions there at the line of scrimmage. So I think that’s hugely valuable.”

Perhaps more correlation than causation here, but it sure feels like Shough is coming in as Moore’s guy. That’s going to make it an uphill climb for Rattler and Haener, though not an impossible one. 

Moore had previously laid out his plan to have his backup quarterback decided before the upcoming season begins. It is likely that he will have the same thought process around his starter rather than an ongoing battle throughout the season.

While saddling Shough with an immediate starting role could lead to some growing pains, Moore has been complementary of the quarterbacks’ ability to manage adversity. So, it stands to reason that submitting him to early challenges won’t be something he and the coaching staff are afraid to do.