Saints QB Tyler Shough Talks Kellen Moore, Brees, Olave & More with Rich

Tyler Shough watched a clip of himself from before the draft and did not cringe. He got fired up.

"It really ignites that mindset of, man, I'm just grateful to be in this situation," the Saints quarterback told Rich. "There's a lot of talk, good, bad, at every single level, especially this one."

The 40th overall pick went 5-4 in nine starts as a rookie, including a four-game win streak and five wins in his last six. He treats that as a floor, not a finished product.

"You don't have to have everything figured out day one," he said of the advice he would give the version of himself who hung up the phone before the draft. "I don't have everything figured out yet, but man, I'm light-years from how I felt last year."

Year two, in his framing, is about pushing the standard up without losing the edge. "How can we elevate our standard and have that sense of urgency, but also still carry that mindset that we have nothing to lose," Shough said. "We were not where we wanted to be last year as a whole team."

The relationship that will decide most of it is with Kellen Moore, and Shough describes it in unqualified terms. Moore is one of the best people he has been around in the business, and the thing that separates him is not scheme. It is temperature.

"He's not going to flip a switch and all of a sudden cuss you out or maybe just not talk to you," Shough said. "Regardless of the situation, he's communicating, he's talking through his thought process, and I think that's what it's like to be a quarterback."

Moore also does not carry an ego into the job, which Shough connects directly to the track record. "That's why you saw the success with Jalen Hurts in Philly and with Justin Herbert in LA and Dak Prescott with the Cowboys. He's brought the best out of those guys."

There was another voice in the offseason, and Shough buried the lede on it. He organized throwing sessions in San Diego and did not expect Drew Brees to show up. Brees showed up anyway.

What Shough wanted from Brees was not mechanics. It was the years before the parade. "He wasn't the Drew Brees that we all know and love at the Saints. He spent quite a few years in San Diego and still battled those first couple years in New Orleans." The lesson was preparing like the starter no matter the depth chart.

Travis Etienne has slotted in behind him like "peanut butter and jelly," and Alvin Kamara, Shough said, "hasn't changed a bit."

Then Rich turned the interview into a personal favor. On the clock in a full-PPR best ball draft, he laid out four receivers: Nico Collins, George Pickens, Drake London, and Chris Olave. Shough did not need the question finished.

"I think you can just look me in the eyes and see where I'm sitting and understand my answer."

Pressed for the case, Shough went further than a teammate has to. Olave has been through his own adversity and his own doubters, and is more motivated and having more fun than at any point in his career.

"I think he's one of the most talented players in the league, regardless of his position," Shough said. "I think you'd be a fool, anybody, to not be able to have the ultimate confidence in him."

Rich, a Michigan man, noted that Olave is a Buckeye. Shough's answer was that sometimes you have to break bread with the enemy to better yourself. The pick went in.