In this new series, we asked several draft prospects at the 2024 scouting combine for their favorite plays in college — the ones they’d want to show NFL teams as the play that best represented their attributes, just as they might in meeting with NFL teams.
Let’s begin with South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler.
After three seasons at Oklahoma, Rattler moved to South Carolina, had one year of adjustment, and came around in 2023, completing 274 of 403 passes for 3,183 yards, 19 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a passer rating of 99.1. There is a rogue gene in Rattler that his NFL coaches will need to manage, but when asked about his ideal play, he showed that he has it together above the neck.
“Den Dozer Right Strong Cozy 73 Y IHOP Swiss. Just a great play to draw up. It gets really intricate when you break it down. You’ve got your yes-or-no read, an alert to the cornerback, a little pivot route to the backside Cover-2, in-cut, influence read.”
Best version of that?
“Florida week.”
Cool. The closest example I could find in the Florida game was Rattler’s 24-yard pass to O’Mega Blake with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter. Blake hit the in-cut front-side against Florida’s Cover-3, the yes-or-no read was the go/flat, and the alert to the cornerback was which route he took to that side. There’s not every element here — it’s not Cover-2, for example — but it’s a nice insight into everything a quarterback has to read right away.
Rattler’s aforementioned rogue tendencies will make some NFL teams shake their heads, but he’s got enough on the ball on tape to become a highly interesting middle-round prospect with spot-starter potential. One thing’s for sure — he’ll have a better offensive line in the NFL, because it would be nearly impossible to replicate the futility of South Carolina’s front five in 2023. Rattler was pressured on 186 of his 491 dropbacks last season (37.9%), and he still managed to complete 57 of 121 passes under pressure for 855 yards, five touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 67.3.
As much as Rattler does have rogue tendencies, evaluating him without pressure does remove some of those.
