New Orleans Saints coach Kellen Moore tried to avoid any quarterback controversies between Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough.
When Moore named Rattler as the starter prior to the 2025 NFL regular season starting, the first-year head coach immediately shut down the idea of a dispute among his signal-callers.
“We’re not getting into this QB debate throughout this season,” Moore said in August. “Spencer is our starting quarterback. Tyler’s going to keep developing. You need a couple quarterbacks in-season. It’s a long NFL season, and so I think we do value that we have depth there and want to navigate the rest of it as we go, but we’re really excited about Spence. He’s going to do an awesome job for us.”
On Tuesday, the Saints officially made a change with the season’s midpoint approaching, naming Shough as their starter for Sunday’s Week 9 game against the Los Angeles Rams (4:05 p.m. ET, Fox).
This will be Shough’s first week of preparation with the first-team offense since the preseason. The second-round pick has been running the scout team in practice as the No. 2 quarterback but feels like he has taken steps from where he was a few months ago.
“I’ve learned a lot. Spencer’s done some really, really good things. Being able to see that growth, grow myself, I’ve been getting, if not the most reps in practice from a scout-team perspective,” Shough said. “… I felt each week I’ve been continuing to grow and felt really, really ready to go. And yeah, it’s been good, but I got to continue to grow, so that’s got to be the answer.”
Moore admitted on Sunday that he was not a fan of “flip-flopping quarterbacks,” which begs the question of why he’s making the change now.
For all of Moore’s early optimism about Rattler, 25, running the offense, the coach likely couldn’t deny that things weren’t improving.
The Saints exited Sunday’s 23-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a 1-7 record and dismal rankings among the league on offense — 27th in total yards, 29th in points, 22nd in passing and 28th in rushing. The Saints have turned the ball over 12 times this season — second only to the Tennessee Titans through Week 8.
Things took a turn in the past two weeks. Rattler, who had turned the ball over once in the first six games, lost the ball six times in six quarters. The opposing teams (Tampa Bay and the Chicago Bears) scored two touchdowns and kicked a field goal as a result of those turnovers.
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Rattler’s performance appeared to open the door for Shough. Moore had made it clear in previous weeks that he had never entertained the idea of benching Rattler midgame, even when the team was struggling against the Bears in Week 7.
But things shifted last week following Rattler’s four-turnover performance against Chicago. Moore fielded several quarterback questions in the week after that game, and this time, he didn’t completely shut down the notion of making a change at the game’s most important position.
When asked at what point the Saints might need to consider playing Shough, Moore said that it would be a week-to-week thing. The Saints selected Shough with the 40th pick of the 2025 draft, their earliest quarterback selection since Archie Manning was picked No. 2 out of Ole Miss in 1971.
“We’ll see as we go,” Moore said.
That moment came a few minutes into the second half of the Saints’ loss to the Buccaneers, when Moore turned to Shough in hopes he could light a flame under the team.
However, the fire never ignited as the Saints couldn’t establish any rhythm on offense. Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill ran the ball four times for 12 yards after Shough entered the game.
The trailing Saints then leaned heavily on the passing game, throwing the ball 30 times with Shough, and would not score again.
“No nerves. I think preparation wise, body wise, I was feeling good, so just was going out there and doing everything I can,” Shough said. “We’ll continue to kind of get in a groove, get better. But yeah, I mean I was ready to go, and just got to continue to keep building.”
Rattler said he was surprised at the decision to bench him in Sunday’s game, but he understood. He said the decision won’t change his attitude going forward.
“I mean I just go at it the same way. It’s part of the game. I’ve been through adversity before,” Rattler said. “I’m going to be a good teammate, have good body language, still be a leader. So I just got to show up to work, keep a smile on my face, keep working, and you can only control what you can.”
Following the Saints’ fourth home loss of the season, Moore said he would be evaluating everything about the struggling offense and would make a decision within 48 hours to give whichever quarterback as much time to prepare as he could.
“We weren’t playing well on offense. It had more to do with our entire offense than Spencer. Yeah, Spencer’s had some turnover bugs the last two weeks, but he’s played plenty of good football. … I was trying to generate a spark, trying to generate something that can get us going collectively, and I thought Tyler went in there, he battled,” the coach said.
Moore said the decision would be based solely on who gives the Saints a chance to win this week and moving forward. It also gives the team its first extended evaluation of Shough since the preseason.
The Saints are currently tied with the Titans and New York Jets for the worst record in the league, giving them a chance to have the top pick for the 2026 season. As of Tuesday, ESPN’s Football Power Index projects the Saints to have the No. 2 pick. Getting an extended look at Shough over the next nine games will allow New Orleans to have a better idea of what it has in its quarterback room prior to April’s draft.
“All we’re trying to do is put ourselves in the best position to be successful on Sunday against L.A.,” Moore said on Monday. “I think the really important aspect is starters need to get every rep they can. You don’t get into this whole weekly competition area or any of that stuff.”
