The New Orleans Saints have a lot to look forward to after a strong finish to the 2025 season for Tyler Shough.
Among the many fans of the young signal-caller is former Saints QB Archie Manning, who knows Shough well from his multiple visits to the Manning Passing Academy, both as a camper and a counselor. But Manning did pump the brakes a bit on the Shough hype train as he spoke on WWL Radio this week.
"He knows he’s got a long way to go," Manning told Mike Detillier, "and we need to be careful around here not to crown Tyler. … He’s a good offensive rookie, but that’s what he was, a good offensive rookie, so it’s a lot of work to do."
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It's definitely a fair point. Shough sat behind Spencer Rattler for the first half of the 2025 season, during which the Saints played the vastly more difficult part of their schedule. The Saints faced six of the eight teams that advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs this season, but only one of those matchups (at the L.A. Rams), came after Shough took over in Week 9. The Saints faced the 49ers, Seahawks, Bills, Patriots and Bears with Rattler under center.
Still, the four-game winning streak authored with Shough at the helm was legitimately impressive. Two of those wins came against the Bucs and Panthers in back-to-back weeks and with those teams battling for the division. Shough finished the season completing 67.6% of his passes for 2,384 yards and 10 touchdowns against six interceptions, while also running for another 183 yards and three touchdowns.
Manning sees a lot to build on, and is confident Shough is the guy for the Saints to put pieces around for the long-term.
"He sure did some good things in the latter part of the season, kind of uplifted the team, got some wins. I think that’s built some confidence," Manning said. "I think the good thing about Tyler is he’s humble. He doesn’t think he knows it all. He doesn’t think he’s done great things yet. ... I think he's our man."
Shough is one of five finalists for the 2025 offensive rookie of the year award, which will be officially announced Thursday.