Once Tyler Shough was named as the starter, the New Orleans Saints completely turned their season around. The playoffs were not the outcome, but that was not the goal of this season. Figuring out the QB position, seeing if the new HC is the guy, and having standout performances to build upon are what the Saints needed to happen, and it did.
In Shough’s 9 starting games, he looked like a top 15 QB, led the team to wins, and already has more career 300-yard games than Super Bowl QB Drake Maye. Although he did not play the entire season, Shough’s impact was excellent, but it wasn’t enough for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Carolina Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan won the award, and he did it by a large margin:
It seems that the voters felt like Shough did not play enough games or may have just looked at the stats. McMillan’s season was also a great one, and being a 1,000-yard receiver tends to make a player a frontrunner in ROTY, but that massive difference in votes is still a surprise.
For any Saints fan, even removing bias, Shough’s play on the field was way better than his stats show. Even with the interceptions, only one was a true mistake by the rookie. For the touchdowns, the offensive play-calling wasn’t good until Kellen Moore started opening up the playbook. I’m not trying to use these things as excuses; it’s context for the stats.
Sadly, Shough did not win this year, but Maye didn’t either last season. I’m not saying Shough will have an MVP year next season, but losing OROY is now added motivation for Shough and will only help him improve this offseason.