The New Orleans Saints aren't ready to name their starting quarterback for the 2025 season just yet, but a strong finish to camp for Spencer Rattler is certainly opening eyes.
Coming off a thrilling, 82-yard drive and 2-point conversion to tie the game late against the Jaguars, Spencer Rattler took the first team reps in Tuesday's practice and was "on fire," according to the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert.
"I’ll tell you, the offense kicked ass. ... I wrote in my notes, yea, offense definitely won the day, and you know who was on fire? Spencer Rattler," Hebert said. "I don’t know, he ran with the 1s today and for every one play Shough made, Spencer Rattler made three. He was burning the defense. Spencer Rattler looks like he's playing with a lot of confidence in practice."
Hear the Cajun Cannon's full practice notebook in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The Saints have shifted into regular season mode. Tuesday's session was indoors and full team drills were closed to the media. Hebert was on hand as part of a Saints alumni event that included several former players. It also happened to be the Cajun Cannon's 65th birthday (happy birthday, Bobby!)
There were several big plays, including a long touchdown run by Alvin Kamara and multiple deep balls to Rashid Shaheed, one of which would've been good for a 60-yard touchdown.
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"Rashid Shaheed was like shot out of a cannon and they were setting the tone," Hebert continued.
Wednesday's practice will be held at the Caesars Superdome and open to the media, so there will be one more full evaluation out in the open, but that is expected to be the last fully viewed practice of training camp. Head coach Kellen Moore made it clear on Tuesday the Saints haven't made a decision in the QB battle between Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough, and the numbers would tell you he's telling the truth about how close this competition is.
Shough didn't have a bad day, Hebert said, but there were still some frustrating misses and limited downfield passing.
"I think Spencer Rattler separated himself today, I mean, I just think he was playing — he looked very confident," Hebert said. "He was spinning the ball. He was making quick, rational decisions
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Both QBs have started one preseason game and the other played the majority or all of the second half. One QB is 24-34 with one touchdown, one interception and a pair of drives for field goals, the other is 25-35 with one touchdown, one interception and a pair of drives for field goals. Both looked better when they came on in relief than when they got the start, though Rattler's scoring drive was more situationally important.
The Saints will have to at least pick one of those players to pull another start, this time against Sean Payton's Broncos, but it's unclear if that will be a true declaration of the starter. This thing is headed down to the wire.