I would’ve put the odds around 100,000-to-1.

Oh, I thought you asked me how likely it would’ve been in August for Spencer Rattler to announce in December that he was transferring to South Carolina.

In August, Rattler was many things. He was a draft-eligible Oklahoma quarterback. History told us that under Lincoln Riley, that all but guaranteed a spot in New York at the Heisman Trophy ceremony and also an early-round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft. Rattler was supposed to be next in line. He was the preseason Heisman favorite and he was the way-too-early No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 mock drafts.

Meanwhile, South Carolina was the team with a first-time head coach coming off a 2-win season. Oh, it was also the program that hadn’t had a quarterback drafted in 31 years. Mind you, a decade of that stretch was with Steve Spurrier running the show. The only reason there might’ve been any sort of odds for Rattler to somehow end up at South Carolina was the fact that Shane Beamer was on that Oklahoma staff during Rattler’s first 2 years in Norman.

But on a Monday night in mid-December, 100,000-to-1 hit. Rattler, along with Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner, are on their way to South Carolina.

It took the exact right set of circumstances to make that happen. Rattler had a nightmare season in Norman that ultimately included him getting benched and his coach leaving at season’s end. South Carolina had a season that involved 3 different starting quarterbacks, including grad assistant Zeb Noland taking the opening day snap.

And just like that, Beamer did something that even Spurrier never did at South Carolina.

The only 5-star offensive player that Spurrier recruited during his decade in Columbia was Marcus Lattimore. As a former 5-star, No. 11 recruit in the 2019 class, Rattler is easily the highest-rated South Carolina quarterback in the recruiting rankings era. Previously, that title belonged to the legendary Stephen Garcia. He was the No. 5 pro-style quarterback and No. 56 overall recruit in the 2007 class.

Garcia and Connor Mitch were technically the only 4-star quarterbacks who signed with South Carolina during the Spurrier era (Brandon McIlwain was a Spurrier recruit, but he signed after he stepped down). Connor Shaw at least had a cup of coffee in the NFL, but like every other South Carolina quarterback in the past 3 decades, he wasn’t drafted. At the very least, Rattler should be able to end that drought.

Rattler has work to do in order to live up to that 5-star billing. Even though he opted to join the more favorable of the 2 SEC divisions, his 2021 issues won’t go anywhere if he doesn’t improve against drop-8 coverage.

That has to be cleaned up, no doubt. Rattler wasn’t nearly as efficient as he was in his first year as a starter in 2020. His yards per attempt went from 9.6 to 7.9, and Oklahoma’s offense was held to 25 points per game in his 3 starts against Power 5 competition in 2021 (excluding the Texas game when he got benched). If Rattler doesn’t improve as a decision-maker, the announcement of his arrival will be the high point of his time in Columbia.

But in the meantime, there are some residual benefits from Rattler’s move, especially just 2 days before the start of the Early Signing Period.

Where this could really boost South Carolina is at the skill positions. Rattler might not have had an ideal 2021, but he’s a household name who will attract talented pass-catchers with immediate eligibility in this new era of the transfer portal. He already got Stogner to join forces with him (Beamer was the tight ends coach at Oklahoma). We saw Mike Woods leave Arkansas as the No. 2 option to spend his last year of eligibility playing with Rattler at Oklahoma.

One would think the opportunity to catch passes from a potential NFL quarterback would take precedent over some of the character questions that followed Rattler during his time in Norman. Beamer shot down any notion that any transfer would exist in that capacity:

Chalk Monday’s news up as a massive win for Beamer, who could’ve patiently waited for Luke Doty to return from injury and perhaps develop into a respectable SEC quarterback. Even though Beamer’s leash in Columbia just got longer with his bowl berth in Year 1, he won the Rattler sweepstakes. It was a risk worth taking for a program that has been snake-bitten at the quarterback position.

That NFL Draft drought actually predates South Carolina’s arrival in the SEC. The Gamecocks haven’t ever had an All-SEC quarterback, either (Steve Taneyhill had some bad luck in 1995 by sharing a conference with Peyton Manning and Danny Wuerffel). It’s easily the longest drought in the conference. Even Spurrier couldn’t change that.

Maybe Beamer will. Maybe his decorated, splashy quarterback addition will lead to the Gamecocks reaching new offensive heights. South Carolina hasn’t had a top-40 offense since 2013, and it hasn’t had a top-25 offense since 1995.

What are the odds that Rattler can end both of those droughts?

Better than 100,000-to-1.