2 weeks Ago
Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Tyler Shough has officially seen his professional dreams realized after having his name called at the 2025 NFL Draft. The New Orleans Saints selected Shough in the second round with the No. 40 overall pick in the draft, which potentially puts him in line to become the starting quarterback in the Big Easy as a rookie next season.
The Saints used the No. 9 overall pick in the first round to select Texas Longhorns offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., which gives New Orleans some long-term protection on the offensive line.
Shough was selected before Colorado Buffaloes star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who continues to make headlines while sliding down the draft order. Shough was the third quarterback selected in this year's draft, joining Cam Ward to the Tennessee Titans at No. 1 overall and Jaxson Dart to the New York Giants at No.
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He was with Oregon during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. During his time with Oregon, Shough completed 118 of 182 passes for 1,703 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. During the pandemic season in 2020, he led Oregon to the Pac-12 Championship, taking down the USC Trojans in a 31-24 win.
He ended that season completing 106 of 167 passes for 1,559 yards, 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. Shough had pre-draft meetings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and more. During ESPN's draft coverage, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban shared his thoughts on Shough prior to the Browns making the 33rd overall pick.
"I love Tyler Shough," Saban said. "I think the medical is a little bit of an issue, the fact that he's 26-years-old, a little bit of an issue. But also he's only played in like 20 college games, which is also an issue, even though his age doesn't match the number.
You take Bo Nix, he played 75 games in college, even though he was 25 years old, but I really like this guy, he's really a good player, and he's going to be the face of an organization." As for Sanders, his draft slide was predicted by some analysts but wasn't necessarily expected to be a reality. However, he'll now have to settle for being a mid-round pick.
After the first round came to an end, Sanders addressed those in attendance at his draft party, saying that everything happens for a reason. "We all didn't expect this, of course," Sanders said on a video posted to social media. "But, I feel like with God, anything's possible, everything's possible.
I don't feel like this happened, you know, for no reason. ..
. All this is of course fuel to the fire and under no circumstance we all know this shouldn't have happened, but we understand we on to bigger and better things.".
