The preseason is over, but the drama in New Orleans is just heating up. After wrapping up exhibition play with a 28-19 loss to Sean Payton’s Broncos, the Saints now stand at a pivotal moment: first-year head coach Kellen Moore is preparing to make his biggest call yet — naming the starting quarterback. With Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough locked in a razor-thin duel for the job, the city of New Orleans waits anxiously for the decision that could define the Saints’ 2025 season.
That marked the final milestone before first-year coach Kellen Moore will choose the team’s starting quarterback.
Moore has largely been mum about the timeline for announcing a starter before Saturday. However, he told reporters after Saturday’s game his decision would come “at some point next week.”
“We’ll go through this process,” Moore told reporters after the game. “We’ll study the film Sunday, we’ll have those discussions, and then at some point next week we’ll make that decision and communicate with certainly the players, first and foremost, and we’ll get it to everyone else as well.”
The Saints’ quarterback competition began as a three-man race between Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener and second-round rookie Tyler Shough. It has since developed into a two-man battle between Rattler and Shough, as Haener has operated as New Orleans’ third-string quarterback throughout the preseason.
Who will win Saints starting QB job?
While Moore hasn’t yet announced a winner of the Saints quarterback competition, Rattler is believed to be leading the competition.
Rattler, who was selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of South Carolina, was given two chances to start in the preseason to Shough’s one. That included the preseason Week 3 contest against Denver, which many took as a sign Moore was favoring him in the two-man race.
Still, Moore hasn’t yet tipped his hand. He took a diplomatic approach following Saturday’s game and praised both quarterbacks.
“Spence did some really good work today,” Moore said of Rattler’s performance. “I thought he made some excellent decision-making. I think the one he’s gonna sit on is we just missed an opportunity to throw it right behind – it ended up on the back of (Rashid) Shaheed. But other than that, I thought he did some really good stuff. He went through some progressions really well, found some guys.”
“That’s a really good defense,” Moore added. “(Broncos defensive coordinator) Vance (Joseph) obviously does an excellent job. So, I thought it was some really good work for him.”
Meanwhile, Moore lauded Shough for his ability to bounce back from an early game fumble on a strip-sack to deliver a 12-play, 77-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
“I thought he did a really awesome job,” Moore said of Shough. “I thought that was a great response, that drive by him. He had a number of completions in a row. The one incompletion to Ced (Wilson), he made a great adjustment at the line of scrimmage. We were really close there, and then the run was just phenomenal. It was great recognition on him – high football IQ and decision-making.”
Spencer Rattler stats 2025 preseason
Below is a look at Rattler’s stats across his three preseason games in 2025:
Completions/attempts (%): 30/43 (69.8%)
Passing yards: 295
Passing TDs: 1
INTs: 1
Passer rating: 86.9
Carries: 7
Rushing yards: 41
Rushing TDs: 0
Tyler Shough stats 2025 preseason
Below is a look at Rattler’s stats across his three preseason games in 2025:
Completions/attempts (%): 36/54 (66.7%)
Passing yards: 333
Passing TDs: 1
INTs: 1
Passer rating: 81.8
Carries: 3
Rushing yards: 23
Rushing TDs: 1
