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Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff Writer
METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints selected South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler with the first of three fifth-round picks Saturday.
Rattler was the first quarterback to come off the board since Day 1, when six quarterbacks were selected in the first round. “At the end of the day it’s a blessing to get picked wherever,” Rattler said Saturday. “I knew we were waiting around a day or two but I had faith that I would be picked today. … I was very happy the Saints came and picked me, what a great feeling.”
Rattler said that he took a pre-draft visit to New Orleans and had dinner with Saints quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. Rattler said the visit went great and he had a feeling the Saints could be in the mix to select him.
Rattler joins a quarterback room that includes starting quarterback Derek Carr, who signed an four-year deal worth up to $150 million in free agency in 2023, veterans Kellen Mond and Nathan Peterman and 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Haener. He is the third pick for the Saints in the 2024 draft behind Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga and Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, who was taken in the second round.
Saints coach Dennis Allen said Friday that the Saints did not make any move to trade up to get one of the first six quarterbacks off the board in the first round.
“I think anytime there’s a quarterback you think has a chance to be your future quarterback, then I think it’s always something that you’re going to consider,” Allen said Friday. “There was zero effort on our part to move up for a quarterback. … Obviously we feel good about the quarterbacks that we have and yet I think you’re always looking to make sure that you’re secure in your future. But that was not a position that we targeted and said we’ve got to move up and go get one of these guys. And it really wasn’t a position that we were really considering at 14.”
Rattler attended the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, Louisiana, in 2022 and said that he still keeps in touch with former Saints quarterback Archie Manning. He said that he and Manning, the first-round pick (No. 2 overall) by the Saints in 1971, text on a weekly basis.
“Very excited, very blessed. This has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. Just blessed to be here, blessed that the Saints picked me,” Rattler said.
Rattler was a fifth-year senior at South Carolina after spending his first three college seasons at Oklahoma. He finished his college career having completed 68.5% of his passes for 10,807 yards, 77 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. He was named the Senior Bowl MVP this spring.
Rattler, now 23, was one of the subjects of the Netflix docuseries “QB1: Beyond the Lights.” when he was in high school. Rattler participated in Season 3 of the series during his final year at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix.
Dowell Loggains, Rattler’s offensive coordinator in his final season at South Carolina, said that he never watched the show, but Rattler was part of his decision to accept the job to coach there during the 2023 season.
“The guy that I got to coach for a year, I’m a better person for coaching him,” Loggains said. “I saw a guy that was a great teammate, a guy that was humble and treated people well. … He was the leader of the quarterback room, not myself, and the only way you can become a leader is if the other guys in the room know you care about him. All the guys rallied around him.”
Source: www.espn.com