New Orleans Saints 2026 preview: Tyler Shough looks to build on promising rookie season

• Tyler Shough provides optimism: Shough led all rookie quarterbacks with a 73.1 PFF passing grade in 2025 while posting a 2.0% turnover-worthy play rate.

• The defense needs young players to emerge: Demario Davis‘ departure leaves New Orleans with few proven difference-makers beyond Chase Young, Kool-Aid McKinstry and Kaden Elliss.

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The New Orleans Saints endured a difficult start to the 2025 season, opening 2-10 before closing with four wins in their final five games. That late-season surge provided some optimism heading into 2026, particularly with Tyler Shough showing signs that he could be the team's quarterback of the future.

With Shough entering his second season and Kellen Moore returning for Year 2 as head coach, there is plenty of intrigue surrounding how much of a step forward the Saints can take in 2026.

Here's our 2026 preview of the New Orleans Saints.

Key Free Agency/Trade Additions

Guard David Edwards should immediately slot in as the starter on the left side of the Saints' offensive line. He has been a solid contributor throughout his NFL career and is coming off a career-high 75.0 PFF pass-blocking grade in his final season with the Buffalo Bills, allowing 32 pressures on 679 pass-blocking snaps.

Edge defender Tyree Wilson has yet to live up to expectations in the NFL, leading the Las Vegas Raiders to trade him to the Saints this offseason. Still, he is an intriguing reclamation project, with his PFF pass-rush grade improving in each of his first three seasons, from 50.4 as a rookie to 60.4 in 2025. It's a worthwhile gamble for New Orleans, which can use Wilson in a rotational role and see if that development continues in the final year of his rookie contract.

2026 NFL Draft Class

With Tyler Shough established as the starting quarterback, the Saints used the 2026 NFL Draft to add more talent around him, selecting wide receiver Jordyn Tyson eighth overall. The former Arizona State standout battled injuries throughout his college career but is coming off a season in which he averaged 2.37 yards per route run and dropped just one of his 62 catchable targets. Fourth-round pick Bryce Lance played at a lower level of competition, but his 3.58 yards per route run in his final college season made him well worth the investment.

On the defensive side of the ball, Christen Miller has the talent to contribute immediately. The former Georgia Bulldog was an elite run defender in 2025, earning a 90.2 PFF run-defense grade that trailed only Ohio State‘s Kayden McDonald among interior defensive linemen in the 2026 draft class.

Reasons for optimism

Tyler Shough was comfortably the best rookie quarterback in the NFL last season, with his 73.1 PFF passing grade finishing 6.9 points higher than the next-best first-year signal-caller. His biggest strength was keeping the ball out of harm's way, as his 2.0% turnover-worthy play rate was not only the best among rookies but tied for fourth among all quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks.

The next step in 2026 will be creating more big plays. Shough's 3.8% big-time throw rate ranked just 27th at the position, leaving room for him to become a more dynamic passer in his second season.

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Reason for pessimism

Outside of Chase Young on the edge, there are few proven difference-makers on the Saints' defense. Just one New Orleans defender who played at least 300 snaps earned a PFF grade above 80.0 last season: linebacker Demario Davis, who has since departed for the New York Jets.

Cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry did take a step forward in his second NFL season, with the 2024 second-round pick ranking 29th among cornerbacks with a 71.4 PFF coverage grade. The Saints also added linebacker Kaden Elliss, who provides another pass-rushing threat after his 30 pressures ranked second among linebackers last season. Beyond Young, McKinstry and Elliss, however, this is a defense that desperately needs some of its younger players to emerge in 2026.

Breakout Candidate

Rookie Kelvin Banks Jr. led all first-year offensive tackles with a 73.5 PFF grade in 2025, performing well both as a run blocker and in pass protection with grades above 70.0 in each facet. He enters his second season with more than 1,000 NFL snaps under his belt and an improved situation alongside him following the addition of left guard David Edwards.

Banks earned PFF grades above 70.0 in six of his final nine games, and if that late-season progress carries into 2026, he could begin to establish himself as one of the league's better young offensive tackles.

Key roster battles

With Chris Olave established as the Saints' No. 1 receiver and Jordyn Tyson added with a top-10 pick, the biggest question in the receiving corps is who emerges as the third option. That player does not necessarily need to be a traditional slot receiver, as Olave played 541 snaps out wide and 346 in the slot last season.

Devaughn Vele, acquired via trade ahead of the 2025 season, finished the year strongly, recording 93, 40 and 69 receiving yards over his final three games. Rookie Bryce Lance is another contender, giving the Saints a bigger target with the impressive college production highlighted earlier. The competition should give New Orleans some flexibility in how it deploys its top three receivers.