Ravens DC: Saints QB Tyler Shough reminds me of 'a poor man's Josh Allen'

Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver thinks highly of the quarterback he faces Sunday, Tyler Shough.

When asked Thursday about the second-year New Orleans Saints quarterback, Weaver said, “I like that kid.”

“We played them towards the latter half of the year when I was in Miami last year, and I was impressed with him then as a rookie,” Weaver said. “He reminds me a little bit of like a poor man's Josh Allen.”

Calling any professional athlete a “poor man's” anything can be viewed as a negative. However, naming Shough in the same sentence as an alien like Allen is a positive at this stage. Weaver’s comments make it clear he meant the phrase as a compliment.

“(Shough) has all the arm talent in the world [and] can run,” he said. “I don’t think he gets enough credit for how good [of] an athlete he is. So, particularly as you get down to the low red [zone], we are constantly going to be conscious of just his ability to scramble and create those extended plays -- no different than our guy with eight [QB Lamar Jackson].

"I just think the more reps he gets, the more confident he’s going to get in that scheme and with the talent around him. I think they have done a good job of trying to build the talent around him. They have tremendous skill players. I think they have upgraded their offensive line from when I saw [them] a year ago. So, sky’s the limit for the kid.”

Shough threw for a career-high 410 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, with two interceptions and a fumble, in a 31-30 Week 1 overtime loss in Detroit. The QB was rattled early, missing a host of passes and turning it over three times in the first eight possessions. However, down the stretch, he was money, picking apart Detroit’s defense, leading five scoring drives in their last six possessions.

How Shough handles the Ravens' pressure will be key. In Week 1, he went 11 of 19 for 206 yards under pressure, all career-high marks, per Next Gen Stats. Baltimore generated pressure on 52.9% of dropbacks in Week 1 after posting the fifth-lowest pressure rate among NFL defenses last season (30.1%). The Ravens generated pressure in an average of 2.33 seconds, their quickest mark in a game in which they generated at least 15 pressures since 2020, per NGS.

The Saints and Ravens kick off from Baltimore on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.