Spencer Rattler was one of the most hyped prospects in the nation when he came out of highschool in 2019 and was supposed to be the sure fire number 1 pick in the 2022 draft. It is now the 2022 season and Rattler is not only still in college but he is not even projected to be a first round pick in the upcoming draft. How did this happen? Does he still deserve a first round grade or should we forget about him as a future NFL QB?
In 2020 Rattler threw for over 3000 yards, 28 TDs, and only 7 interceptions in just 11 games despite throwing 317 Passes on the year (5th in the Big 12 alone) and was pretty much considered to be the undisputed number 1 pick when he would be eligible to draft the next year, but when the 2022 draft passed Travon Walker was selected first and Rattler had not even declared. Instead, Rattler decided to transfer to South Carolina in an attempt to build his draft stock back up after an abysmal 2021 year lead to him getting benched for Caleb Williams. In the 2022 season Rattler completed 67% of his passes for 2,766 Yards (7.9 Y/A) 16 TDs and 11 Interceptions adding 176 Yards and 3 TDs on the ground. These numbers are certainly dissapointing, but Lets look at the film and see how good he’s really been.
One of Rattler’s best traits is his athleticism. He is more than fast enough to be a legitmate threat as a runner and he is good at sensing pressure and scrambling. He seems more comfortable in the pocket this year and is more willing to throw from then pocket. Rattler has been pressured alot playing behind a middling South Carolina Offensive Line where he hasn’t played great. I think when he is under pressure he’s looking to escape defenders more than he is trying to find someone open down field and it ends up with him scrambling (and getting sacked a lot). When he’s kept clean I think he played really well and that’s partially why he played so well in the tennesee game (he was only pressured 9 times in the game) Earlier in the year he was missing on his deep passes more than usual but i think his consistency improved as the year went on. On the year he was tied for the 12th highest Big time throw rate out of 55 qualifiers at 13.3% and had the most YPA at 18.4. I think he does have a legitamite deep ball that will translate to the NFL. One issue i have with Rattler is his vision and decison making. I think he stares down recievers a bit too long and he will try and hit his first read too much even if there isn’t much separation and it causes him to throw a lot more Turnover worthy throws than he should (was 77/86 in TWP% this year at 4.3%).
I don’t hate Rattler as a prospect but I don’t love him either. He has a very good deep ball and athleticsm and good enough accuracy to where I don’t think he has a horrific floor and I think if his Vision and decison making under pressure can improve he can be a good starter in the NFL. I don’t think he’s a sure fire first like he used to be hyped as but I also think he deserves more hype than he’s currently getting and isn’t a lost cause in the NFL. I think he’s a R2 guy and in this class not being very strong at QB he could be my QB3 ( Still working on my draft board which I will release on here)
Going to continue the grading system i used last year and his grades look like
- Arm Strength: 8/10
- Accuracy: 7/10
- Athleticism: 7.5/10
- Deep Ball: 8/10
- Vision: 6/10
- Decision making: 6/10
- Pressure Play: 5.5/10
- Average: 7/10
- Grade: Round 2
Player Comparisons
- Ceiling: Jameis Winston
- 50%: Tyler Huntley
- Floor: Bryce Perkins
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