Turning 26 years old in September, Shough is among the older QB prospects in this class, having graduated from high school in 2018. His winding path led him from Oregon (where he was once Justin Herbert‘s backup) to Texas Tech and finally Louisville, with injuries derailing his career more than once.

The 6-foot-5, 219-pound Shough displayed NFL talent at his first two stops, spending three years at Oregon, where he started seven games in the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, before moving on to Texas Tech, where he started 13 games over three years. Two separate collarbone injuries, in 2021 and 2022, followed by a broken leg in 2023, prevented him from ever starting more than five games in a single season there.

But at Louisville in 2024, Shough reminded NFL scouts of the talent he teased at his first two spots, throwing for 23 touchdown passes (along with one rushing score) and only six interceptions. At the Senior Bowl, Shough stood out as one of the better quarterbacks at the showcase and displayed his NFL-caliber traits.

Shough has a live arm and a prototypical NFL build for a quarterback, also testing very well at the NFL Scouting Combine with a 4.63-second 40-yard dash. He’s able to manipulate his arm angle and make throws to all parts of the field, leading a Cardinals offense that averaged 36.6 points per game last season. On the flip side, Shough’s age and injury history were concerns for some NFL teams, and he’s guilty of trying to fit balls into tight windows that can lead to turnovers.

Yet there’s a real fascination surrounding his game. Shough might be older than the 49ers’ Brock Purdy, who’s entering his fourth NFL season, and might have fewer college starts than multiple QB prospects in this class, but he has enough high-end talent to make the Saints confident enough to potentially hand him a starting gig as a rookie.

New Orleans bypassed QB in Round 1, taking offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., No. 9 overall. They came back and grabbed their guy in Round 2.