NFL Analysis
4/27/24
4 min read
Spencer Rattler 2024 NFL Draft: Combine Results, Scouting Report For New Orleans Saints QB
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Spencer Rattler.
Spencer Rattler's 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 6-foot 1/8"
- Weight: 219
- 40-yard dash: 4.95
- 10-yard split: 1.63
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.37
- Vertical jump: 32"
- Broad jump: 9"
Spencer Rattler 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS
- Higher-level arm talent with the easy strength to drive the ball with velocity. Can make tight-window throws.
- Can effortlessly drive the ball at the intermediate and deeper levels. Made far hash, deep sideline throws.
- Flashed pocket movement traits, moving efficiently within the pocket and re-setting with balance and firm base.
- Made big-time back shoulder fade throws with firm touch with excellent timing and precise ball location.
- Threw the ball well on the move with velocity and ball placement. Gives an offense-designed boot pass game.
- More than functional second reaction ability. Made plays outside of structure, throwing and running.
- Improved in the last three games of 2022: Feet much calmer in the pocket. Played with a more refined sense of timing.
- 2023 tape showed compact explosive delivery. The ball came out with easy velocity. Natural effortless thrower.
- Made big-time throws down the field under pressure. He got the ball out 50-60 yards when he could not stride.
- Showed positive flashes of reading coverage and working through progressions comfortably from the pocket.
- Flashed the anticipation to make throws into zone coverage windows, something he needs to do more.
- When under pressure, he kept his eye level high with downfield focus, showing subtle pocket movement.
- Made some big-time throws on the move with velocity and precise ball placement.
- Showed an understanding of fronts and pressures and how to adjust protections to account for the blitz.
WEAKNESSES
- Needs work on footwork and balance on drop and set in the pocket. Did not play with a consistently firm base.
- Consistent tendency to move when rush is not a factor. Too loose and undisciplined in pocket play.
- Is it in his DNA to move. That was a big part of his game, and there were too many times he moved unnecessarily.
- Must become quicker and better with processing and play with more patience and precision from the pocket.
- Needs to see the field with more clarity within the structure and timing of the play design and route concepts.
- Ball placement needs to become a little more precise. He’s not scattershot but must be more precise.
- Must learn more about fronts and alignments regarding pass protection to understand where pressure is coming from.
- Early season 2023 tape still showed room for improvement in recognizing coverage and making the right read.
- 2023 – Ball location still needs to improve. He missed too many throws that you cannot miss at the next level.
- Must continue to work on footwork on drop and set in the pocket. Did not plant with firm base ready to throw.
- Not a natural timing window thrower vs. zone coverage. Does not play on time with needed consistency.
- Showed a tendency to be a beat late on some throws, especially outside the numbers.
- Can he sit in the pocket late in the down to deliver progression throws?
- Showed a tendency to flinch in the pocket when the pocket was squeezed. Natural reaction that’s hard to correct.
NFL TRANSITION
Rattler will be one of the most intriguing and, perhaps, one of the most polarizing evaluations in the 2024 quarterback draft class. What immediately stood out watching Rattler was that he was a gifted thrower of the football. He has the higher-level arm talent to effortlessly make throws at the intermediate and vertical levels and the easy strength to drive the ball with velocity when demanded.
There were many dropbacks in which Rattler showed the traits that transition well to the next level, including subtle pocket movement to avoid pressure and the ability to effectively work progressions (especially coming back side opposite the primary trips read).
Rattler was habitually late as a passer, too often not throwing with the precise timing demanded, resulting in too many throws left on the field. Another issue with Rattler was his glaring tendency to flinch and fall away from throws in muddied and noisy pockets, which he will face more often in the NFL.
For Rattler to develop into a quality starting quarterback, he would need to go to a team that focuses predominantly on his pocket traits and works to enhance them in all areas to make him a higher-level pocket quarterback. That includes all the elements that go with that: timing, rhythm, progression reading, precise ball placement.
Rattler has the natural throwing ability to be an NFL starter, but it would take some time with the right coaching and understanding of what he is as a player.
OTHER NOTES
Rattler came out of Arizona as a consensus five-star recruit and the nation’s No. 1 QB prospect. He began his college career at Oklahoma, where he had an outstanding redshirt freshman season in 2020. In 2021, Rattler lost his starting job to Caleb Williams midway through the season and then transferred to South Carolina for the 2022 season
In 2022, South Carolina’s passing game was not overly detailed. It was more basic and featured a multiple-screen game. South Carolina’s pass game featured a good percentage of 1-on-1 throws for Rattler, especially on vertical routes.
Rattler looked like a different QB vs. Tennessee (2022), playing with a much better feel for the rhythm and timing of the passing game and a more refined sense of field vision and anticipation. There were strong reps of comfortable pocket movement where he re-set his feet and delivered with balance. Overall, Rattler played at a high level mentally and physically.
The 2023 opener vs. North Carolina showed Rattler’s mental and physical toughness behind a poor performance by the South Carolina OL. His 17-yard TD to Xavier Legette vs. Kentucky was a high-level throw that featured Rattler seeing pressure before the snap and using outstanding pocket movement, leading to an excellent throw with precise ball placement.
