Darren Rizzi has named Jake Haener the starting QB for this week’s game against the Commanders, according to a source. Rizzi informed him and the other QBs of the decision this afternoon. Formal announcement coming soon.https://t.co/PDL9PDjrOX
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) December 13, 2024
New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi has informally made a decision on who the starting quarterback of his team will be for this weekend’s game, giving second year player Jake Haener the nod over rookie Spencer Rattler.
This may be surprise to the many who saw Rattler get his three starts earlier in the year when Carr went down, but now Haener gets his chance to showcase his talents for the first time.
The two young signal callers have been battling it out since minicamp, remaining neck-and-neck far into the regular season. It is clear that the team is high on both players in terms of how they have managed this situation.
Rattler received the starting job over Haener on the first go around, even when Haener was the No. 2 guy initially. With the team getting a glimpse of Rattler earlier this year, they now go to Haener who has clearly performed well enough in the summer to earn that back up role this season.
Regardless of performance though, it is great to see the team evaluate the quarterback position for a potential long-term solution. Whether it be Rattler, Haener or neither going forward, they will have a nice body of work from each player heading into the offseason.