The New Orleans Saints benched QB Spencer Rattler this past weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rattler was unable to protect the football with four interceptions and two fumbles over the last two weeks and was replaced by second round rookie Tyler Shough.
The Saints will travel to SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Rams in Week 9. Who will we see under center for New Orleans?
How both QB’s played against Bucs
Rattler certainly did not play well against Tampa Bay. The results were even worse for Shough when he came in on short notice:
Rattler: 15 of 21 (71.4% completion) for 136 yards, one interception, one fumble
Shough: 17 of 30 (56.7% completion) for 128 yards, one interception*
Shough’s interception can mostly be attributed to the receiver for dropping the pass and the defender stealing the ball away. This was not a turnover-worthy play. Shough did miss some throws in relief of Rattler, however.
Rattler’s luck ran out
The recent turnovers by Rattler are not necessarily the result of him doing anything differently. He’s been fortunate to only throw four interceptions prior to Week 8 despite Pro Football Focus (PFF) crediting him with 15 turnover-worthy plays. The luck has run out the last two weeks and we are seeing defenses capitalize on Rattler’s poor decision making.
Rattler led the NFL in turnover-worthy plays entering Week 9 and the next closest player was the oft-maligned Tua Tagovailoa at 13. If Ratter were to drop back 100 times, he’d on average put the ball in harm’s way on over five occasions. The second-year quarterback already has two games with five or more turnover-worthy plays (Week 3 at Seahawks, Week 7 at Bears).
While Rattler has been impressive relative to his draft position—he’s tossed 8 touchdowns and averaged over 200 yards per game—you won’t have a chance to win many football games if you cannot protect the football.
Shough’s argument to start
We have not seen enough of Shough to depart from pre-draft evaluations. Some analysts thought he was one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 draft class, though he’s already age 26 and is probably not New Orleans’ quarterback of the future.
The one thing Shough needs to do to win and keep the job is take care of the football, which would provide a stark alternative to Rattler.
In three preseason games, Shough posted only a single turnover-worthy play on 61 drop backs (1.6%). He did not manufacture big-time throws as often as Rattler (3.6% to 4.3%), though the Saints have enough talent on offense to be competitive without high level quarterback play. They simply need someone who won’t give the ball to opposing defenses multiple times per game.
