Spencer Rattler’s football journey has been one of ups and downs, and the South Carolina product is currently enduring the latter. Through the first two days of the 2024 NFL Draft, Rattler has yet to hear his name called. Rattler was unlikely to join the fray of six quarterbacks who went off the board in the first round on Thursday, but Day 2 appears to be a potential window for teams that missed that first run to pursue him as the consensus next. best QB available. It just never came to fruition.
Rattler is a polarizing prospect who at one point seemed destined to be a first-rounder. He left high school in Arizona as the top quarterback in the class of 2019, according to 247 Sports, and committed to the University of Oklahoma. For the Sooners, he put himself on the map with a strong redshirt freshman season in 2020 where he threw for over 3,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. He was a Heisman Trophy favorite entering the 2021 season, but ultimately lost the starting job to Caleb Williams, who just went No. 1 overall to Chicago.
Most recently, while transferring to South Carolina, Rattler put together solid numbers for the Gamecocks and continued to provide glimpses of top-tier talent, but the team went 5-7 with him as the starter. last year and he never could. to rekindle that 2020 magic. That said, he made a strong impression during the pre-draft process by earning MVP honors at the Senior Bowl.
Now, Rattler is looking at the fourth round as the earliest he can be selected and there are still a trio of NFL teams that make sense as a landing spot.
The New York Giants have a Daniel Jones problem. The team signed their quarterback selected sixth overall in the 2019 NFL Draft to a four-year, $160 million extension last offseason. Jones struggled in 2023, throwing two touchdowns against six interceptions in six starts before a torn ACL ended his season. His run in 2022, in which he had the lowest interception rate (1.1%) in the NFL, appears to be an aberration and not the new normal.
While cutting Jones doesn’t make budgetary sense at this time (it would result in a $69 million dead cap charge), that hasn’t stopped New York from pursuing quarterbacks this draft cycle. The club even considered trying to move up to No. 3 to select UNC’s Drake Maye as Jones’ replacement. They couldn’t make that deal and decided to draft receiver Malik Nabers at No. 6 instead of taking JJ McCarthy, but the need for another option at quarterback remains, which Rattler could fill.
Earlier, the Giants’ Day 3 pick is 107th overall, which is the seventh pick in the fourth round.
The Raiders were another team looking to make a move on a quarterback selection in the first round, but couldn’t find a solution. After moving on from Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer, the club currently has Aidan O’Connell and free agent signee Gardner Minshew as the top quarterback options on the roster. While Minshew is a solid stopgap, he doesn’t present a long-term future like a rookie quarterback like Rattler does.
New Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce was the recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach at Arizona State when the Sun Devils offered Rattler a high school scholarship. Pierce likely also attended many of Rattler’s prep school games in person, as the quarterback attended Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, about 25 miles from the Arizona State campus. That familiarity could bode well for Rattler in Vegas.
The Raiders’ first pick on Day 3 is No. 112, which is the 12th overall pick in the fourth round.
Seattle currently has stability at quarterback. Geno Smith earned back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances as the Seahawks’ starter, and he played like a top-five quarterback in 2022. The three-year, $75 million contract he signed with the Seahawks’ 2023 offseason will expire after its age-35 season in 2025.
This could be the perfect time for Rattler to replace him as the Seahawks’ long-term starter. Pro Bowl wideout DK Metcalf and 2023 first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba are a talented 1-2 punch, and both could very well still be on the roster by then. New offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb had Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. looking like the best quarterback in college football at times throughout the 2023 season.
Rattler could get plenty of seasoning in a quarterback-friendly environment before becoming a starter in his third NFL season. Trading for Sam Howell earlier this offseason shouldn’t stop Seattle from making a move on Rattler either.
