With the conclusion of week 3, the Saints need to seriously consider benching starting quarterback Spencer Rattler in favor of rookie Tyler Shough, especially after the disaster of a game against the Seahawks.

Shough (pronounced “shuck”) can pull the Saints out of the mud and lead them toward a much-needed win.

Rattler is in his second NFL season and has and 0-9 record with the Saints. While head coach Kellen Moore thinks “Spence has been phenomenal” and that he’s “heading in the right direction,” fans disagree. Moore has so much faith in him, yet Rattler has done nothing to warrant it.

In the Saints’ first away game of the season, the Seahawks destroyed the Saints 13-44. Rattler managed to throw only one touchdown pass to Jack Stoll in garbage time. Shough made his NFL debut, entering with three minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Many Saints fans point to the fact that the Saints have many more issues to address outside of Spencer Rattler, with some believing Rattler is not the problem. However, this is not a reason to keep Rattler in there. The Saints drafted Shough in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft and need to see what they have in Shough so they can properly evaluate the position heading into next year’s Draft.

Saint Paul’s football player Sean Parker believes that the Seattle loss isn’t the end of the world for Saints fans, seeing as it’s a rebuilding season. Parker wants to see how Rattler does for a few more weeks. “If Rattler is consistent with a good performance, I believe we should let Shough develop,” Parker stated.

In Week 2, Rattler utilized more of his offensive weapons, such as WRs Chris Olave and Rasheed Shaheed, TE Juwan Johnson, and RB Alvin Kamara. However, in week 3, he decided to barely utilize them and ended up throwing away the ball constantly under pressure. Even when he had time in the pocket, he would under- or overshoot the ball. His poor passes have also been nearly intercepted multiple times.

Another area where Rattler falls short is taking charge of the offense as a leader; he doesn’t go up to his O-linemen and tell them that these false starts and holding calls are killing them. Instead, he chooses to just look annoyed.

Within the last weeks alone, the Saints have been called for 31 offensive penalties, which have totaled over 211 yards lost, 11 of those occurring during the Seahawks game.

Ultimately, the Saints’ 0-3 start is not all of Rattler’s fault, because the coaching staff and play-calling are called into question in a blowout loss. To Rattler’s credit, he has made some decent plays in each of the first two games, but many of these plays were after the Saints were already losing. The Saints can’t keep upping the tempo at the last minute; Rattler needs to maintain a consistent tempo throughout the whole game. These last-minute pushes aren’t cutting it.

Kellen Moore needs to find a way to make Rattler work if he insists that Shough isn’t ready. Rattler earned the job by outplaying Shough in training camp, but now that the Saints are 0-3, a change is needed, even if Shough isn’t entirely ready.

Shough, when given the opportunity in college, makes smarter decisions and moves the ball with finesse across the field.

Shough was a controversial second-round selection because he’s a 26-year-old college quarterback. The fact that he’s somewhat seasoned, though, may help in games now. Why wait to see what he can do?

Shough showed his potential throughout the preseason with some flashy plays. He competed hard with Rattler and achieved similar stats, even though he only took a confirmed 29 snaps. Compared to Rattler, who took 66, Shough put up equivalent stats while also outperforming Rattler in passing yards (333) and completions (36).

Shough has been criticized for his hasty decision-making, but he makes up for it with his power play potential and abilities under pressure. 

Saint Paul’s rugby player and football fanatic Brady Flanagan wishes that Shough would be given another opportunity to bring some tempo back to the Saints. “Rattler has talent, but he can never finish what he started and always comes short, but Shough is the safer bet if you want a steady teammate who can get the job done,” said Flanagan.

This is displayed in his first ever NFL preseason game against the Chargers, where he threw a beautiful 54-yard touchdown pass to Mason Tipton.

Another great play by Shough was his side-arm pass on a third-down conversion against the Broncos; he escaped two sack attempts and had his arm grabbed, but he still got the pass off. He also escaped pressure multiple times against the Chargers, a skill that Rattler has struggled with.

Overall, Shough may make mistakes, as that comes with being a rookie, but Rattler hasn’t shown the improvement that the Saints need.

“The Saints have already lost their first three games; at this point, they have got nothing left to lose,” argued Saint Paul’s junior Hunter Bentley.

At the end of the day, while the Saints don’t just need a quarterback, starting Shough makes more sense considering the rebuilding phase the team is in, and he should help the team win games, too.