I don’t know how much a Spencer Rattler share would go for these days.

Surely it’d be cheaper than this time last year. I mean, if NIL was any indication, Rattler’s price was soaring. That’s what happens when you’re a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite and projected as the future No. 1 overall pick in way-too-early mock drafts.

Some wouldn’t touch Rattler’s stock now that he’s at South Carolina. They’d say “he got benched with ideal surroundings” or “he’s a terrible teammate who will blow up that locker room.” I’d argue that’s baked in with any sort of price on 2022 Rattler shares.

Consider me a post-spring buyer.

Why? How could someone succeed at South Carolina, AKA the school that has never had an All-SEC quarterback, but not Oklahoma, AKA the school with 3 top-2 finishers in the Heisman Trophy race since 2017?

It’s a fair question. Lincoln Riley went to USC, but not the South Carolina “USC.” Even the biggest Marcus Satterfield supporter wouldn’t claim that he’s a better offensive mind than Riley, right?

Those are fair points. What’s also a fair point is that this 2022 version of Rattler could be the steadiest we’ve seen so far. Based on what, you ask?

Let’s dig into that.

If you watched Rattler in South Carolina’s spring game Saturday night, you didn’t see anything earth-shattering. He didn’t make a viral throw, he didn’t leave a tackler in the dust and he didn’t post some gaudy, Oklahoma-like numbers.

Well, this 3rd-and-18 throw didn’t go viral, but as Rattler said afterward, it was indeed a dime:

At the same time, that’s not really what we need to see from Rattler. We know the arm talent is spectacular and he can drop throws in a bucket.

I’d argue his most critical play of the night might’ve looked like a simple pitch and catch, but if you understand Rattler’s progression as a player, it was an example of him buying into his new home. Start with the formation. In the Oklahoma version of the Air Raid offense, how many times do you think Rattler operated under center with a bunch set like this with just 1 receiver lined up outside?

I can’t imagine Rattler had many instances at Oklahoma in which he operated out of a pro-style set in a non-short yardage situation. By the way, that’s one of the reasons Rattler came to South Carolina. He wants to show that he’s got more arm talent. Identifying “Mike” linebackers? Calling out protections? These are things Rattler is eager to show that he can do at a high level.

The second level of this play is also important. It’s a play-action pass. That’s slow-developing. Rattler needs to trust his offensive line, which was a group that was scrutinized heavily last year. He needs to trust that his front-side blocker is going to hold the protection long enough for Xavier Legette to get in and out of his break 30 yards downfield because Rattler has to release the ball to a spot and trust that Legette will be there.

This is a pivotal moment right here. If Rattler holds onto the ball a split second longer, it’s probably a sack. If he doesn’t trust his protection — front or backside — he’s not keeping his eyes downfield and he’s instead looking for space to improvise. But as you can see, he plants that back foot off the play-action fake and is ready to target Legette:

(By the way, even the front-side protection on that was a little wrinkle. Tight end Traevion Kenion went in motion and actually came back to finish the block from Trey Adkins, who then released into the flat as sort of a bailout screener of sorts, which wasn’t needed.)

So with great protection and great scheme, what did Rattler do? He hit an in-stride Legette downfield so well that he was able to turn the corner and pick up another 13 yards. Rattler dapped up Kenion and moved on to the next throw. It’s a high-risk, slow-developing play that truly takes all pieces working well. It takes trust. It takes next-level arm talent, too.

That play is exactly why Shane Beamer wanted to bring Rattler to Columbia. You can teach concepts and scheme. You can’t teach that arm talent. Those things, combined with that continued trust that Rattler, is what’ll determine whether Rattler’s time in South Carolina is viewed as a success.

You could actually argue that Rattler’s reaction to the very next play was equally significant. In a formation that probably looked a bit more familiar to Rattler, he threw what looked like a catchable ball to running back JuJu McDowell in the flat. Ultimately, it was thrown a bit ahead of where McDowell was expecting it. Before McDowell even got back to his feet, Rattler had double thumbs up as if to say “shake it off. We’re alright.”

That looks minimal, but at the same time, that’s exactly the type of stuff that Rattler was criticized for not doing when he was at Oklahoma. Shoot, he was criticized for that in high school when he was the star of the Netflix show “QB1.”

It’s only a spring game. Does throwing thumbs up mean that Rattler is automatically going to be the world’s best teammate when the bright lights of an SEC fall are shining? Of course not.

But if you’re totally out on Rattler, remember this. Being humbled has a funny way of changing people. Instead of being told by anyone and everyone about how he’s destined to win a Heisman and become a No. 1 overall pick, Rattler now has people who don’t even think he’s a top-5 quarterback in the SEC entering 2022.

Those people point to his benching at Oklahoma as a reason he’s destined to fail. What those people might also not take into context was that while Riley’s track record might make it seem “easy” for quarterbacks to succeed, Rattler was also being measured against Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts and even 2020 Rattler, who actually had a better quarterback rating than Trevor Lawrence in his pre-draft season. Unless we’re talking about a starting quarterback at Alabama, Clemson or Ohio State, there’s not a real parallel for the standard that Rattler was measured against.

When Oklahoma fans started chanting for backup Caleb Williams, they did so in late-September. There’s no world in which Rattler gets that kind of treatment at South Carolina because those expectations aren’t nearly as high, and there’s also not a former No. 1 quarterback recruit waiting behind him. The Rattler naysayers might not remember that entering the afternoon that he was benched against Texas, he was leading an undefeated team and had a quarterback rating of 158.0. Only 10 Power 5 quarterbacks had that good of a mark for the entire 2021 season.

And of course, that was considered Rattler at his worst, not at the levels he displayed in 2020 when he led the No. 6 offense with the No. 6 quarterback rating among Power 5 signal-callers. In 2021, he forced throws, he got sloppy with his mechanics and he struggled to stretch the field against drop-8 coverage. Still, he was better than the naysayers would suggest.

Do you know the last time a South Carolina player had a quarterback rating of 158.0 (min. 150 attempts)? Connor Shaw barely exceed that with a 162.9 mark in 2013, which was the byproduct of a 24-1 TD-INT ratio. He also added 558 yards as a runner for a team that won a school record 11 games and earned its best AP Top 25 finish (No. 4) in program history. Yet even that wasn’t deemed good enough for an All-SEC honor.

Rattler isn’t being tasked with taking South Carolina to the heights that Shaw did. At least he shouldn’t be. As great as last year’s finish was, Year 2 expectations for the Beamer era shouldn’t be set at double digit wins.

But Rattler’s presence absolutely changes things. He came to South Carolina dead set on righting his wrong of 2021. With his first spring in the books, it looks like he’s done that. All reports have been positive. He even added 10-12 pounds of good weight to try and becoming a tougher ball-carrier to bring down. The plan is for him to be used in the ground game more than he was at Oklahoma.

The greater plan is for him to master Satterfield’s offense and show that he can develop the intangibles. He seems self aware enough to know the criticism against him. He has a locker room to win over. The spring game suggested that wasn’t an issue at all. Again, though, actual football can change dynamics in a hurry. They certainly did for Rattler in 2021.

At this time last year, Rattler’s stock was through the roof. If you bought shares, you were disappointed. Of maybe you sold high and decided that he still had some learning to do with his mechanics and leadership skills.

Rattler’s stock is as low as it’s been in his college career. Well, at least it is outside of Columbia. Perhaps that’s exactly what he needs. Time will tell.

So far, 2 thumbs up.

Photo credit: South Carolina Gamecocks on YouTube