​New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough did not hesitate when asked about the steady voices in the team’s offensive room. Two names rose to the surface quickly: center Erik McCoy and tight end Juwan Johnson. And then Shough went a step further with Johnson, making it clear he believes one of the Saints’ most trusted offensive players still has another level to reach.
“Juwan, man, he’s due for a huge year,” Shough said during an appearance on Green Light with Chris Long. That is a notable endorsement from the quarterback who will be tasked with leading Kellen Moore’s offense in 2026. Johnson is already coming off the most productive season of his NFL career, catching 77 passes for 889 yards and three touchdowns in 2025. Shough’s comments imply that the Saints may view that as more of a starting point than a ceiling.
Shough was asked which offensive players might be more influential inside the Saints’ building than fans realize. He pointed to Johnson and McCoy as two of the stabilizers.
“I think Erik McCoy and Juwan Johnson have been kind of those steady guys,” Shough said. It matters who they are. Johnson has weathered multiple coaching staffs, multiple quarterbacks and several iterations of the Saints’ offense. For Shough, that continuity is valuable. He described Johnson as one of his closest friends off the field, but also as someone who helps carry the message within the offense. And that is not just locker-room praise. For a young quarterback, a tight end who can communicate, adjust and separate is often one of the most important players on the field. Shough emphasized this point when moving from Johnson’s leadership to his skill set.
“His speed, his catching ability, his ability to separate is pretty tough,” Shough said. That is the part Saints fans should pay attention to. Johnson has already shown he can be more than a checkdown target. He averaged 11.5 yards per reception in 2025, giving the Saints a tight end who can operate beyond the short areas of the field. The question now is whether New Orleans can turn Johnson’s reliability into a bigger, more consistent weekly problem for defenses.
Johnson is not the only reason this angle matters. Shough also sounded enthusiastic about the Saints’ full tight end room, highlighting veteran Noah Fant and rookie Oscar Delp as part of a group that can alter personnel looks. The Saints selected Delp in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and the team’s official bio described him as a 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end with receiving ability, yards-after-catch agility and blocking value. That gives Moore a different menu to work with.
With Johnson, Fant and Delp, the Saints can deploy heavier personnel without becoming predictable. They can line up with multiple tight ends, forcing defenses into bigger packages while still spreading the field. Or they can stay versatile, leveraging the strengths of a tight end group that covers both the inline and receiving game. In short, Shough’s praise for Johnson is less about a single stat line and more about the way Johnson fits into a broader, more dynamic approach to the Saints’ offense. If Johnson climbs to another level, it could unlock a more flexible, unpredictable attack for New Orleans as they move forward with Moore’s system and the rest of the offensive personnel at their disposal.