Is Saints QB Crisis OVER? | Is Tyler Shough THE ANSWER In New Orleans?

Is Saints QB Crisis OVER? | Is Tyler Shough THE ANSWER In New Orleans?

[Music] Josh Edwards, CBS Sports, NFL draft writer. Usually talk to him around draft time, but good time to circle back now. Hey man, how are you? I’m doing well. Yeah, we uh usually are talking about the NFL draft, which um unfortunately is is often too relevant in the market, but um you know, looking at how the season progresses is a very big part of those draft evaluations, trying to determine what teams need. So, um I’ve always got a pulse on what the Saints are doing and happy to talk about them with you today. Yeah. Um the uh go back and remind us if you would, Josh, what your evaluation was on Tyler Shuck coming out of Louisville. to be honest, I was lower on him. Um, obviously he was an older quarterback prospect. He was somebody that had dealt with extensive injuries throughout his collegiate career, so it was kind of a smaller sample size despite him being in college for so long. So, it was a little bit difficult to get a full read on him in that regard. I thought he was inconsistent throwing the ball downfield, but uh I thought what we saw this past week was pretty encouraging. I thought, you know, what we had seen from his first exposure uh two weeks ago was kind of up and down, which you would expect from a rookie quarterback, but um seeing what he did this past weekend, I think, um he looks a little bit more settled. He looks a little bit more comfortable in the offense, and I think there’s uh you know, some hope to believe that he could be something for this franchise. So that’s kind of the the question is what are the things? By the way, Josh, real quick, do you have us on speaker? If you could pick up the the handset, I’ it’s just a little hollow. if you could, I’d appreciate it. Um, the what what did you see specifically from him? Cuz that’s a question, right? I could look at his stat line, but they also scored 17 points playing Carolina. So, what what did you see that actually looks projectable? Well, I think first of all, he’s a player that has a professional pedigree in the sense that he’s got that ideal frame that you look for, but the way that he was manipulating the pocket, I thought the way that um his eyes worked down the field um going through his progressions just gave you a little bit of confidence as to how he was seeing the field. Um to your point, yes, it is a Carolina defense that um was historically one of the worst that we had seen in the NFL last year, but has taken marginal strides this year with some of the talent that they have added. So, um it has to be taken with a grain of salt. But I just think the comfort that we saw from him in the pocket, his ability to um kind of maneuver and you know get around the pocket to find some open windows to attack you know this Panthers secondary with a Saints receiver room that had lost Rasheed Shahed. Um you know was just something that you would hope to see from a rookie um you know making his his second appearance. He’s on Twitter at Edwards CBS. Give him a follow at Edwards CBS. Josh Edwards is with us here. Hey, when you I’m sure you’ve already started the the 2026 uh quarterback draft evaluation. That’s kind of been a big topic here, right? Depending on how the final seven games go for Chuck or the Saints who probably going to be picking somewhere there around the top five. Are they going to be in the market for a quarterback? What do you see in this quarterback class so far? It’s interesting because what we had seen prior to the season is really nothing of what the picture looks like currently. um in the sense that of course you know Garrett Nesmeire was uh one that was highly thought of, Lenor Sers at South Carolina, Arch Manning at Texas. Um those players have been volatile throughout the season. So I think they’ve given way to some other guys that you know are making the most of their first expended opportunity. Dante Moore um at Oregon, you’ve got Tai Simpson at Alabama, uh Fernando Mendoza at Indiana. Now, I think you’ve seen them all play on elevated platforms in high leverage football games. Um, they have made some big-time plays in critical moments for their teams this year. And I think all three of them have positioned themselves to be top 10 overall prospects. Um, which is not something that I would have expected, you know, just a couple of months ago. But, uh, all three of those guys have eligibility to return, um, if they choose to do so next season. But I think if you’re a guaranteed top five pick, top 10 pick, it would be difficult for any team to match the NIL type package uh that it would take to, you know, compensate for a player to return to college for another season. So, it’s going to be really interesting, but I think this group stacks up pretty strongly. Um certainly better than than what last year’s class ended up being. Wait, Josh, I don’t want to miss that point. You were saying it would be difficult for a team to match the NIL package. Are you saying that it would be more fin more fiscally responsible for a player to return to school or to go go top 10 in the NFL? I I there’s there’s a couple ways to look at it. Um obviously you’re going to get a a lot more money if you choose to go to the NFL over returning to college football. If you have confidence in yourself, if you’re somebody that believes you’re going to have a longtime career uh in the NFL, then you theoretically want to get to your first contract sooner. Uh so that’s something to consider as well. If you’re somebody that’s already thinking ahead to your second contract where uh historically that’s where rookies are going to make the the biggest amounts of money in their career uh and you’re that type of player, then I think it makes sense to go ahead and start that clock uh and jump to the NFL as as soon as you’re ready. Yeah. Drew Aller, Kate Clubnick, a couple others we were talking about before the season that are I I don’t know if you I mean it seems like they’ve probably had their stock drop as well without question. Uh, Clubnik was not necessarily as high for me coming into the year. Okay. Um, I did have Aller a little bit higher. Um, still not, you know, within that first round grade, but somebody that was obviously intriguing. Um, so disappointing the way his season progressed, but uh, yeah, two more names that were a part of that quarterback class uh, in the summer that are not necessarily as big a factors as as they are now. Does this mean uh Josh that maybe the the strength in this draft class at quarterback is going to be the depth because some guys that would seemingly have a really high ceiling are going to be available late first round or possibly in day two potentially because then you’re talking about a Brendan Sorsby uh Brendan Sorsby from Cincinnati rather. Um you’re talking about possibly Josh Hoover from TCU. Uh Lenora Sers from South Carolina if he does choose to come out. Um, I think those are probably three players that are kind of in that next tier. Um, now again, all of them have eligibility and could return. So, that’s something to take into consideration. obviously a little bit more intriguing to those players um if you’re not going to be a guaranteed top 10 pick uh and could potentially get a very uh lucrative package in college football, which I’m sure Miami and Oregon and some other teams could potentially be uh putting those together as we speak. But uh yeah, there’s going to be some some intriguing options I think um in the back end of the first round, possibly into the second round uh just depending on what those players elect to do. LSU is going to be in that mix as well. um for for an NIL quarterback. No doubt. Let me um so let’s say play this hypothetical with me, Josh. So if the Saints, let’s say they end up picking top 10, which I think we all think that they will. I mean, as excited as people are about the one game from Tyler Shuck, it’s I mean, this is still not a very good team. Um so they pick top 10, maybe even top five, but they’re committed to Shuck. So they’re going to look somewhere else there in that top 10. This is a team that kind of needs everything, right? You got aging linebackers. You’re not very good at corner. You could, everybody could use an edge rusher. You know, Cam Jordan’s aging. U they need a dominant receiver. Who are some of the prospects outside of the quarterbacks that are going to be the top prospects in this draft that could check any of those boxes? Yeah, and to your larger point, um you know, perhaps there’s an opportunity to trade down and get multiple picks where you’re able to have multiple bites at the apple. I think that would be uh something that New Orleans would have to consider as well if that ends up playing out. Um but to your question, Jordan Tyson, a wide receiver from Arizona State. Um somebody that you know is kind of like Jackson Smith and Jigba type size. Somebody that um you know plays through the catch a little bit. He’s more grounded. He’s somebody that’s going to be able to create yards after the catch uh for you. Then you’ve got Carnell Tate who at Ohio State has played on a on a big platform and uh you know made a lot of plays for them. He’s somebody that can win balls down the field. 6’3, a little bit bigger in size. Um Chris Bell from Louisville is somebody that’s incredibly explosive after the catch but also has plus size. Um Casey Conpsion, a wide receiver from Texas A&M is somebody that’s going to be in that group as well. And then Mai Lemon um from USC is is somebody that’s going to be in that group as well. kind of a smaller um body type in relation to the others that we’re mentioning. Not really a strong tight end class at the top. Uh running back, you know, there’s Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame, of course, but um you know, I think the depth is probably stronger behind him than necessarily having those top tier blue chip type running backs in this class. Um and then yeah, I I offensive line I think is kind of up and down uh from what we’ve seen this season. I know that’s obviously been something that the Saints have been drawn to over the past decade, taking offensive line. Exactly. Stop missing on linemen. Stop missing on linemen. To to to varying degrees of success, um I must say, but uh yeah, it’s it’s it’s an interesting draft. There’s a handful of guys that uh I think you can really get excited about. Tyson uh and Tate being a couple of those players. But um you know, I think the Saints are going to have a lot of opportunities and be set up fairly well if Shuck ends up developing into the quarterback that they hope he can be. Last thing, the the rookie class that the Saints, they drafted nine players and you’re seeing a lot of those guys on the field sort of out of necessity. Uh you know, after after Shuck, I mean, we’re seeing Kelvin Banks at left tackle. Have you do you have a general feel on how this rookie class has fared? because I mean just just cuz you you’re playing doesn’t mean you’re playing well. You could be playing out of necessity. So, a thought on how this rookie class is is doing so far. Well, I really like Kelvin Banks. Um, you know, obviously, again, being a rookie, there’s some volatile play, a little bit up and down, but I do think that he’s generally been technically sound. So, I think there’s at least reason to believe that he’s going to be a consistent presence for them on the left side. Uh Jonas Sanker, you know, I think we’ve seen flashes from him as well. He’s he’s done some good things in the secondary. But one thing with having a team that has so many needs is that a lot of these guys are being thrust into the equation a little bit sooner than maybe they would in other scenarios. And that can be good and bad. You know, playing experience is incredibly valuable for young players in the NFL. So, the Saints are getting an opportunity now to go through those live interviews, those live evaluations, and really identify what this team needs moving forward because obviously they’ve, you know, pushed their chips to the middle of the table and they’ve kicked the can down the road, whatever metaphor you want to use in terms of the uh, you know, financial implications over the past decade, but uh, like you said, this is a team that has a lot of needs and I think with so many of those young players, uh, this is, you know, an incredibly valuable opportunity for them to prove prove themselves. He’s Josh Edwards from CBS on Twitter, Edwardscbs. Give him a follow, dude. We’ll certainly be bothering you much more as we get closer to and through draft season, man. We always appreciate the time. Thank you, Of course. Anytime. Hey, thanks so much for watching. Please leave your comments. I love to interact. And be sure to hit the red subscribe button below. [Music] You [Music]

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Matt Moscona is joined by CBS Sports NFL Draft Writer Josh Edwards to break down the New Orleans Saints’ most pressing issues and look ahead to the loaded 2026 NFL Draft class. They dive deep into the recent play of Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, with Edwards offering his pre-draft and updated in-season evaluation. While Shough showed encouraging signs of comfort and pocket manipulation in his second start, the panel questions if those flashes are enough to deter the Saints from drafting a quarterback in the top five. Edwards discusses the volatile 2026 quarterback landscape, highlighting rising prospects like Dante Moore (Oregon), Ty Simpson (Alabama), and Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) and explaining the financial and contractual clock reasons a top player might declare early for the NFL Draft. Plus, they explore what the Saints could target if they are committed to Shough, listing top non-QB prospects who could fill critical team needs like wide receiver and defensive help, as the team struggles with an aging roster and cap-kicking history. Edwards also gives a quick evaluation on the Saints’ current rookie class, including offensive lineman Kelvin Banks, and how playing out of necessity is offering invaluable, albeit sometimes volatile, live evaluations for the franchise’s future.

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