Saints' Tyler Shough is Coming Up on a Make-or-Break Season

Tyler Shough indicated enough during his rookie season to provide the New Orleans Saints a reason to believe he could be their quarterback of the future.

Key points

• The difficulty is that the Saints need more from Shough if they're going to turn into a legitimate playoff contender.
• Shough took over as the Saints' starter midway through last season and had some genuinely solid moments.
• See more of our trusted coverage when you search.to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
• Taking too plenty of negative plays on top of it makes the margin for error even smaller.
• The Saints have additionally produced moves to offer their young quarterback more assist.

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Shough took over as the Saints' starter midway through last season and had some genuinely solid moments. His accuracy on short and intermediate throws stood out, and his 69.2% completion rate as a starter was the best ever by a rookie.

That's a good place to start. The difficulty is that the Saints need more from Shough if they're going to turn into a legitimate playoff contender. New Orleans indicated some promise down the stretch last season, but moving from an entertaining team to a serious postseason threat will require the quarterback to raise his level. More sports: 49ers Have a Budding Star Flying Under the Radar.

Notably, the biggest concern is what happened when Shough obtained downfield. He completed just 26% of his throws traveling at least 20 yards downfield. It was the worst mark in the NFL. That hurts. He additionally had the second-worst pressure-to-sack ratio in the league.

Missing on major plays is one thing. Taking too plenty of negative plays on top of it makes the margin for error even smaller. That's why CBS Sports' Zachary Pereles has Shough in the hot seat heading into the 2026 season.

In practice, the Saints have additionally produced moves to offer their young quarterback more assist. Shough will have more talent around him as he tries to take the next step. Now, the pressure is on him to create something happen with it. Sports news: Giants' Malachi Fields Could Obtain a Bigger Workload.

Shough has already shown that he can be accurate and solid. What he needs to prove in 2026 is that he can consistently create the bigger throws while avoiding the negative plays that stalled the Saints' offense.

Taken together, the developments around saints& #039; Tyler Shough is Coming Up on a Make-or point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.