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Spencer Rattler enters true QB battle in 2nd NFL season with Saints
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Spencer Rattler had a roller-coaster collegiate career at Oklahoma and South Carolina, but when the dust settled, he threw for almost 11,000 yards and 77 touchdowns.
The New Orleans Saints took a chance on Rattler in the 5th round of the 2024 draft, and now they’re giving him a shot to be their starting quarterback. With Saturday morning’s surprising announcement that veteran Derek Carr is going to retire, Rattler is now firmly in the mix to be New Orleans’ guy this fall.
He’s going to have to earn it, though. Rattler won’t just have to beat out 1 guy, he’s going to have to outlast 2 quarterbacks to be the Saints’ starter in Kellen Moore’s first season as head coach. Tyler Shough and Jake Haener will be given a full chance to win the job vacated by Carr, just like Rattler will.
Moore made that clear on Saturday in the aftermath of Carr’s retirement:
“All 3 quarterbacks, we’re going to let all 3 of these guys roll. They’ve all earned these opportunities. We’ll play patience, let these guys compete, let them get into training camp and naturally these guys will kind of take care of itself,” explained Moore on Saturday about the wide-open QB competition in New Orleans.
After a whirlwind collegiate journey, Rattler now has an unlikely opportunity this early in his pro career to be the quarterback for Moore, who is known for being one of the top offensive minds in football. This fall, we’ll see if Rattler can seize that opportunity.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
