Kellen Moore explains why Saints drafted Tyler Shough over Shedeur Sanders

Kevin Hickey

Kellen Moore explains why Saints drafted Tyler Shough over Shedeur Sanders image

The biggest storyline from the 2025 NFL Draft is about a player who has yet to be drafted entering Day 3.

The New Orleans Saints were among the handful of teams that needed to address the quarterback position, and it was widely expected that Colorado's Shedeur Sanders would have been well off the board before their pick at No. 40 overall.

When the time came, though, Sanders was still there. New Orleans then made the surprise decision to instead take Louisville's Tyler Shough, a quarterback prospect who turns 26 years old in September.

Head coach Kellen Moore tried to explain why the Saints made that controversial decision.

"He was right in those conversations,” Moore said of Sanders. “These were really tough decisions. He’s a really good player. What he accomplished at Colorado and when you watch the film, it’s really, really good. I think really highly of him. Ultimately as you go through it, you’ve got to make a decision and we felt like Tyler was the one for us.”

Sanders was once considered to be a top-three pick in the draft before the middle of April arrived. His stock has been falling for a few weeks, but most still expected him to be gone before the end of Day 2.

New Orleans is among the several teams who passed on Sanders so it's clear something happened behind the scenes where NFL organizations felt uncomfortable taking him with premium draft capital.

It will be interesting to see where Sanders ultimately lands, especially since New Orleans seemed like a prime spot for him.

Kevin Hickey

Hickey was previously the managing editor of USA Today's Colts Wire. His work is also featured as a fantasy football analyst for The Huddle. A career .232 hitter, he is an avid reader of Spider-Man comics, an admirer of the James Webb Space Telescope, and a keen enthusiast of Ma’s sauce. You can find him on Twitter/X @KevinHickey11