South Carolina Football: Spencer Rattler projected as 1st round NFL Draft pick
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina football quarterback Spencer Rattler elected to return to school after the 2022 season despite significant interest from the NFL. Rattler likely would have been selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, but due to some inconsistencies while playing in offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield’s scheme, he wouldn’t have been taken very highly.
Fast forward to the fall of 2023, and the Gamecock signal-caller has upped his NFL Draft stock tremendously. Through the first five games of the season, Spencer Rattler has played like one of the best quarterbacks in college football.
Rattler is in the top-20 nationally in passing yards and has accomplished the feat despite missing his top target Juice Wells for most of the year and despite being the second-most sacked quarterback in Power-5 football (behind only Shedeur Sanders of Colorado).
Rattler is also 13th in completion percentage, and just three quarterbacks ahead of him have thrown more passes than #7.
The numbers support Rattler’s world-class talent, and the more consistent play has inspired several national outlets finally to begin giving Rattler the respect he deserves.
Like most, Wilson has Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams and North Carolina gunslinger Drake Maye as the top quarterbacks in the draft. After that, Wilson says the quarterback hierarchy is “wide open.” Wilson also put Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Washington’s Michael Penix ahead of Rattler. Sanders is expected to return to Colorado, meaning Rattler could go even higher.
In the mock draft, Rattler went 21st to the New Orleans Saints. If this holds, he will be South Carolina football’s highest drafted quarterback of all-time. In fact, he will be the only Gamecock quarterback to be selected in the modern, 7-round NFL Draft.
In the article that accompanied the mock draft, Wilson gave credit to the South Carolina football captain for his play on the field and his growing maturity. Rattler has been a tremendous leader, even in the face of adversity (and pass rushers) this season.
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