Spencer Rattler spent his offseason working with a personal quarterback coach throughout the summer to give himself the best possible chance of competing for his spot with the New Orleans Saints in his rookie year.
A fifth-round draft pick by the Saints, the former five-star recruit has landed in an intriguing situation with the Saints, where he'll battle alongside former fourth-round pick Jake Haener for the backup job - with the capabilities of challenging Derek Carr should he continue to impress.
After being seen as a potential number-one overall pick in the 2022 draft, Rattler endured a humbling experience in losing his starting quarterback with Caleb Williams at Oklahoma, before transferring to South Carolina. Rattler had gone from a quarterback seen as a potential franchise starter, to having no future in the sport, now finding himself in an ideal situation - one he seemingly is not taking for granted.
READ MORE: Inside Spencer Rattler's journey to the NFL after infamous Netflix show and Caleb Williams benching
READ MORE: Tom Brady and LeBron James have 'awkward' interaction at Paris Olympics
"I think he’s improving every day," coach Dennis Allen said of Rattler. "There’s still some things that he’s doing: Just understanding how to play within the scheme of the offense, how to get through your progressions, knowing how to listen to your feet, when to take your chances down the field, when it’s time to check the ball down — all those things are pretty good learning experiences.
"I wanted to put him in a situation [Monday in practice], fourth-and-five, we’re in a move-the-ball situation see if he could execute and make a play. And he did. He made a hell of a throw on the out route to get the first down in that situation. So I see some of that confidence, which I think is good at the quarterback position, and yet there’s some times where I think we’ve got to pull the reins back just a little bit."
Follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories.
Allen added: "We’re trying to determine if we have a backup quarterback on our roster right now. I’ve seen some signs that I like. Yet, I want to get them into real live situations, under the lights, and see how both of these guys operate in that environment.
"I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen out of both Spencer and Jake, and yet, we haven’t made any decisions there. I want to see what they operate like under the lights."
Rattler will get his first opportunity to play on the NFL stage this weekend, when his new team travel to Glendale to face the Arizona Cardinals. From coach Allen's demeanour, it appears he'll need to impress to keep his place on the team - while potentially putting his name in the shop window in preseason should he impress enough to earn a starting opportunity in the future.
Most Popular
Comments / 0