South Carolina Football: New Orleans Saints get better by taking Gamecock Spencer Rattler in NFL Draft

South Carolina football fans watched five former Gamecocks get picked in the 2023 NFL Draft as Cam Smith (2nd round to the Miami Dolphins), Zacch Pickens (3rd round to the Chicago Bears), Darius Rush (5th round to the Indianapolis Colts), Jovaughn Gwyn (7th round to the Atlanta Falcons), and Jalen Brooks (7th round to the Dallas Cowboys) fulfilled their dreams of becoming NFL players.

This year, the Gamecocks again have multiple players vying to become NFL Draft selections. Wide receiver Xavier Legette was the first former USC star off the board as he was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the final pick of the 1st round on Thursday night. Next up, though, was quarterback Spencer Rattler. After quite a while being listed as the "best quarterback available," the New Orleans Saints picked Rattler in the 5th round with the 150th overall selection.

With the Saints, Rattler will have the opportunity to sit behind a veteran in Derek Carr, but Carr does not have a stranglehold on the starting quarterback job long-term, meaning that Rattler could earn his way to the gig eventually. Taysom Hill is more of a gadget player at the position, and the other quarterbacks on the roster don't have much job security.

Rattler’s arm talent and creativity have been some of the biggest strengths discussed in his pre-draft process, but it is his maturation and growth as a person during his South Carolina football career that has many excited about his pro potential. It would surprise very few around the Gamecock program if Spencer Rattler becomes "the man" in New Orleans.

With Rattler and Legette both being taken, the South Carolina football program has experienced its first ever draft in which they had a quarterback and a wide receiver selected in the same draft. Rattler is just the third Gamecock QB taken in NFL Draft history, and he is the 1st one taken in the modern 7-round draft format.