Who is the Saints QB of the future?

By: Jeremy Trottier

The New Orleans Saints are tasked with something they have not had to deal with since 2006, in that they have to figure out who their starting QB is.  With four quarterbacks on the roster currently, they have to see how training camps and preseason plays out to make that decision.  With that said, there is the chance that none of these quarterbacks are their long term starter, and they could be drafting one early on come next NFL draft season.  In this article, I will be going over why each of the Saints rostered QBs is not a long term option as of right now.

Jameis Winston

The QB most Saints fans at this point believe to be the starter for 2021, and rationally that should be the case.  The potential Jameis has is sky high, however as many have mentioned to this point, we also know the lows of Jameis as a QB too.  The most blatantly obvious being his decision making.  Throwing 30 interceptions in a season does not solely happen because you are in an Air Raid offensive scheme, nor does it just happen because your eyesight is not up to par. 

His decision making is one of the faults of his type of playing style, we saw it when he was at Florida State too.  With Sean Payton as your head coach, a coach who likes consistency and playing the short “dink and dunk” type offense where short to intermediate passing is key, interceptions kill that thinking in seconds.  If Jameis has not changed his ways and truly learned what throws NOT to make, his tenure could be short lived.

Taysom Hill

To start, he is going to be 31 by the time the 2021-2022 season starts up, which automatically puts him out of the “long term” category.  Taysom also has issues with turnovers, however in the opposite way Jameis does.  That being fumbles.  Last season Taysom had a horrible time trying to hold onto the ball, fumbling 10 times (Tied for 3^rd among NFL players in 2020 behind Derek Carr and Daniel Jones both at 11).  The other thing to note is he only started four games at QB for New Orleans, and still ended up with more fumbles than passing TDs.  

Taysom also does not really have the consistency as a passer to perform as a starting QB full time.  He has accuracy on short passing, which is good for the scheme, however his intermediate to long range passing is extremely inconsistent.

Ian Book 

To be fair, as a Saints fan, I am intrigued by Ian Book to say the least.  He has traits to make it at the NFL level, potentially as a starter someday.  With that said, he is not nearly ready to take on a starting role yet at this level, and likely will not be for another two to three seasons.  He is an extremely raw prospect, with the traits to make it but he needs to learn more regarding the NFL landscape and how to play at the next level.  

He will need a few seasons to learn from Sean Payton and the rest of the coaching staff on how to build up some arm strength, as that is his heaviest weakness at the moment.  

Trevor Siemian

Trevor Siemian is somewhat relegated to career backup at this point.  When you start in 25 games over three seasons and throw a 30 touchdown to 24 interception ratio and have issues getting your completion percentage above 60% each season, you really need to take a step back and learn from someone.  Odds are Siemian is a camp arm and will stick around on the roster as a backup, provided Ian Book does not take that spot away.