Tyler Shough’s latest NFC South ranking is the kind of thing a young quarterback can file away and use later.
The New Orleans Saints quarterback is being slotted at the bottom of the division by Lou Scataglia, even after what the piece describes as a strong rookie year. That leaves Shough in a strange spot: still viewed as the least established starter in the NFC South, yet also positioned to move from the bottom of the board to the top by season’s end.
Scataglia’s rankings come with one wrinkle worth noting. The NFC South has five quarterbacks who could start, and the Atlanta Falcons are in the middle of a quarterback camp battle between Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr.
The list only includes the top four, but the setup makes clear that both Falcons quarterbacks could have fit. Shough has actually been ranked lower than both before, so this is not exactly a dramatic fall.
Even so, the Saints passer could technically be listed as the second-worst starter in the division here, ahead of Penix, who did not make the cut. That is not much of a consolation prize, but Scataglia’s explanation points to why Shough’s stock is still very much tied to projection.
Scataglia is not dismissing Shough’s ability. He is simply leaning on the reality that the sample size is still tiny. “Tyler Shough has the highest ceiling of any quarterback in the NFC South for the 2026 season, but he's played fewer than 17 games and has a very limited sample size,” Scataglia wrote.
He added, “For now, though, Shough is the least proven starting quarterback in the division, so it should not come as a shock that he's No. 4 in our power rankings.”
That’s the heart of it. This isn’t really about talent; it’s about how much of that talent has actually been on display. Give Shough a few more games, and the ranking could look very different.
The upside is obvious enough. As a rookie, Shough showed more than just raw tools.
He brought a strong arm, accuracy, mobility and quick mental processing, the kind of blend that suggests there’s room for a much bigger jump ahead. If his 2026 season looks like his 2025 campaign, he should rocket up the board, maybe all the way to first or second.
For now, though, the bulletin board material is sitting right there. And if the Saints quarterback keeps trending the way the report expects, the “worst” label may not last long.
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