Spencer Rattler Already Proving He's the Saints' Most Talented QB

Last offseason, the New Orleans Saints threw a ton of money at veteran Derek Carr in a desperation move to find a franchise quarterback who could fill the massive void left behind by Drew Brees' retirement.

Carr struggled to live up to his pay grade in his first year in New Orleans, and while much of the blame can be placed on a banged-up and inconsistent offensive line, Carr didn't prove to be the kind of quarterback who elevates the play of his teammates and leads them to success regardless.

The Saints are still financially committed to Carr as their starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, but when they spent a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft on South Carolina's Spencer Rattler, they added a more talented passer to their roster.

Rattler was well-known from his Netflix fame heading into college, and was crowned early as a potential No. 1 overall pick early in his career at Oklahoma. But after Caleb Williams stole his job at halftime against Texas and never gave it back, Rattler transferred to South Carolina and quietly put together some solid film and production for the Gamecocks.

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In our final rankings heading into the 2024 draft , Rattler was the No. 58 overall player on our board, just one spot below Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, who was selected 12th overall in the first round by the Denver Broncos.

Still, despite his impressive talent as a passer and knack for making big plays happen outside the pocket, Rattler fell all the way to the fifth round of this year's draft, where the Saints wisely snatched him up as a developmental project to sit behind Carr.

But Rattler's early returns in preseason action are showing why the Saints might be better off making him their regular-season starter sooner than later:

Yes, it's still just the preseason, but Rattler's comfort level in clutch situations and his ability to create plays outside of structure when things break down should be massive green flags for the Saints as they look forward.

If Carr isn't able to elevate his game in a big way compared to what he looked like last year, the Saints might be forced to start the youth movement at quarterback before the season is over.

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