Two-time Super Bowl champion Deion Branch has told New Orleans Saints fans to be excited about quarterback Tyler Shough. Shough was taken in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft and may lead the team in his first year, with question marks surrounding the health of Derek Carr.
Branch, a fellow second-round pick out of Louisville, has given a glowing review of the young quarterback and stated that New Orleans was right to choose him over other options.
Deion Branch Assures Saints Fans Over Tyler Shough
Shough was the third quarterback taken in April’s draft. His selection shocked the NFL, given that Shedeur Sanders was still on the board. During a recent appearance of “Up & Adams,” though, Branch stated that the team had made the right decision.
“Tyler’s all that. I promise you. I want to be the person to quieten down all the grumblings that I have, probably, slightly heard. About ‘Oh, we didn’t take the right quarterback.’ No, you took the right quarterback, trust me, I promise you.”
Branch went on to explain that Shough is ready to play in the NFL and predicted a long and successful career for the player in New Orleans.
“Tyler is an NFL quarterback [who] was in college,” he said. “He can make every throw in the book. I watched it, I saw it, every day. As a former receiver, looking at this young man practice every day on the football field, studying every day off the football field. First guy in the building, last guy to leave the building, he’s a pro-ready quarterback.”
Shough’s Long Road to the NFL
The main story surrounding Shough ahead of the draft was the eye-popping seven years that he spent in college. He spent his first two years at Oregon backing up now-five-year NFL starter Justin Herbert, before finally taking over in 2020. That year was shortened due to COVID-19, but Shough performed well, leading the Ducks to a Pac-12 championship win.
Shough then transferred to Texas Tech, where he suffered significant injuries in three straight years. A broken collarbone in 2021, a shoulder injury in 2022, and a broken fibula in 2023 looked to have shattered his NFL hopes. After a transfer to Louisville in 2024, Shough finally enjoyed a full season in which he threw for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns, with just six interceptions.
While his significant injury history appears concerning at a glance, the fact that it was a different injury every time, and not a recurring problem, should be recognized. When given a prolonged opportunity to impress, Shough did just that, with the Saints among those who took note.