The New Orleans Saints named Spencer Rattler their starting quarterback on Tuesday. First-year head coach Kellen Moore has his guy, for now at least.
The unexpected May retirement of four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr put Moore in a tough position. He had to choose a QB1 from an unproven set of passers: a rookie in Tyler Shough, a second-year signal-caller in Rattler and three-year veteran Jake Haener.
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But, really, the competition came down to Shough and Rattler. The latter won out.
“Spencer Rattler’s our starting quarterback,” Moore said in a Tuesday news conference. “Really, really excited for him. He’s done an awesome job this offseason. He’s just been consistent. He’s made some really good decisions throughout this whole entire process. And his ability to make plays with his arm and his feet has certainly showed up. … He’s earned this opportunity. He’s going to do a tremendous job for us.
“At the same time, we’re really, really fortunate we’ve got Tyler. Love the development that he’s had over the course of this entire offseason. He’s done a number of things for the first time in his career, just navigating that. I think that’s an important aspect when you’re a younger quarterback to let the whole process play itself out. I thought he capped it off with just an excellent performance against Denver on the last preseason game. I thought he did a really, really good job. I’m a big believer in just the importance of developing quarterbacks, developing them the right way. There’s a process for both of these guys that’ll give them the space to develop, and I think we’ve got two guys that are going to have great careers for us.”
New Orleans selected Shough No. 40 overall in the second round of this year’s draft. He was a rather unorthodox prospect, considering his lengthy, injury-riddled and well-traveled college career that spanned seven years and saw him start for three different schools.
Shough turns 26 in September. He impressed during his lone season at Louisville, where he finally played a complete, 12-game regular season and posted a 23:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio while averaging 266.3 passing yards per game and registering a 62.7% completion percentage.
Originally a high school prospect ranked in the top 10 of the same class as Trevor Lawrence, Shough entered a long-awaited pre-draft process with momentum, which he rode into becoming a second-round pick.
The Saints picked Rattler in the fifth round of the 2024 draft. Rattler, once Rivals’ top dual-threat quarterback in the 2019 class, started his college career at Oklahoma, where he found prolific success in 2020 before ultimately getting passed up by eventual Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams in 2021. Rattler transferred to South Carolina and finished his career there, notably helping Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks pull off top-15 wins over Kentucky, Tennessee and Clemson in 2023.
With the Saints, he got thrust into a starting role by Week 6 of his rookie season. That’s when he replaced an injured Carr, who missed three games with an oblique injury. Rattler’s debut turned heads — in the first half, that is. He authored a 27-point second quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who stifled him and the New Orleans offense after halftime.
Rattler had his moments, both during that three-game stretch and another after Carr went down with a season-ending hand injury in Week 14 against the New York Giants. But Rattler lost all six of his starts in 2024. He finished his first year in the league with four touchdown passes, five interceptions, 1,317 passing yards and a 57% completion percentage.
As for Haener, the Saints drafted him the year before they selected Rattler and two years before they scooped up Shough. New Orleans grabbed Haener in the fourth round out of Fresno State. That’s where he threw 53 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions over his final two college seasons.
Haener’s NFL career didn’t get off on the right foot, however. He was suspended six games in 2023 for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Haener didn’t play until last season when Carr suffered his oblique injury. Haener was the one who finished out a 26-13 road loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, except he completed just 2-of-7 attempts for 17 yards in the defeat.
The Saints went with Rattler the following week instead of Haener, who eventually made his first career start against the Washington Commanders in Week 15. But a miserable first half — which saw him record only one more pass completion (4) than sacks taken (3), plus an interception — led to his benching and Rattler’s return to action.
New Orleans has drafted a quarterback three years in a row. Moore is rolling with Rattler, the one who’s seen the most NFL action of the inexperienced bunch so far.
