All eyes are on the New Orleans Saints quarterback battle this summer, and that includes the big guys up front charged with keeping the passers clean. Veteran right guard Cesar Ruiz spoke about the competition brewing between second-year backup Spencer Rattler and rookie draft pick Tyler Shough on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football program Friday morning, and he’s already feeling energized by what the two young guns have shown him.
“Two different quarterbacks, right?” Ruiz began. “Everybody has their superpower, everybody is good at their thing. Spencer has something, and I’m like, ‘Hey, he got that.’ Tyler will come in there, and I’m like, ‘Hey… This is just talent.’ When you see two talented guys just competing, it’s truly fun to see.”
Ruiz acknowledged that, just because the Saints drafted Shough highly at No. 40 overall, it doesn’t mean they have to play him if they have a better option. He remembers coming in off the bench to start his rookie season as the No. 24 pick. He remembers seeing a lot of quarterbacks start for New Orleans in his five-year career, too: Derek Carr (27 games) Andy Dalton (14), Drew Brees (12), Jameis Winston (10), Taysom Hill (9), Spencer Rattler (6), and Trevor Siemian (4), plus Ian Book (1) and Jake Haener (1).
He continued, via NFL.com’s Nick Shook: “That quarterback competition right now is great to see. It’s great because it’s two young guys who are both gonna leave their footprint somehow, someway in the NFL, and they’re both extremely talented. It’s just great to see those two compete and learn and just grow. Both of them are competing. Both of them are progressing. I just love seeing the progress of both of them.”
Like it or not, there isn’t a more important position in pro sports than quarterback. No single player more greatly impacts the game than the passer, and the Saints will go as far as Shough or Rattler can take them. It says a lot that, whether the questions were presented this way or not, Ruiz spoke about this as a two-horse race. The Saints also have third-year pro Jake Haener and undrafted rookie QB Hunter Dekkers on the training camp roster, but neither of them are expected to threaten the two guys at the top of the depth chart. Barring a big surprise it’ll be either Rattler or Shough leading the huddle in September. And as far as Ruiz is concerned? He trusts his coaches to make the right choice based off how those guys compete later this summer.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints vet sees two talented QBs in Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler