Louisville football fans often follow their former Cardinals at the next level, and one of the biggest rising stars in the NFL is Tyler Shough. The former Cardinal was drafted No. 40 overall by the New Orleans Saints and has quickly become one of the top QBs in the country.
Last year, Shough was in a quarterback battle for most of the offseason, going up against Spencer Rattler for the starting job. Although Shough lost that battle, he ultimately took the role from Rattler and emerged as one of the top rookies in the 2025 season.
Now, after a couple of games in the 2026 season, Shough has emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate and is making history.
Tyler Shough is off to a red-hot start in 2026
Shough has played 13 games, and in those games, the former Cardinal has made NFL history as the first player to throw for 3,000 yards while completing 67 percent or more of his passes.
Tyler Shough is the 1st player in #NFL history have 3,000+ passing yards with a 67%+ completion through his 1st 13 career games. pic.twitter.com/eTWdSeTM2o
— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) September 23, 2026
Right now, Shough has thrown for 3,046 yards and completed 67.9 percent of his passes. The former Louisville star has been one of the top quarterbacks in 2026, throwing for 662 yards, four passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and completing 68.9 percent of his passes.
Through two weeks of football, Shough leads all NFL quarterbacks in passing yards as he continues to impress and turn heads at the next level. Shough is emerging as a true star; right now, he has higher MVP odds than some notable players, including Drake Maye, Jalen Hurts, Matthew Stafford, Trevor Lawrence, and many others.
Shough played one year at Louisville, where he was just the 13th player in Cardinals history to throw for 3,000 yards or more. In that 2024 season, Shough finished with 3,195 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown, while completing 62.7 percent of his passes and throwing just six interceptions.
Now, at the NFL level, he is already making history, with 3,000+ passing yards and a completion rate of 67% or higher through his first 13 career games. Shough led the Saints to a 5-4 record in their final nine games and has New Orleans buzzing early after their big win over Lamar Jackson and Baltimore last week.
If you are a Louisville football fan, make sure you tune into Sunday football and find the Saints games if you haven't already, because Shough is representing Jeff Brohm and this Cardinals program very well, and he is doing it at a high level.
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