The New Orleans Saints have gone with a contingency plan for Derek Carr as they select South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler with the No. 150 overall selection in the 2024 NFL draft.
Rattler has been through a lot during his football career up to this point, but has all of the talent in the world that can be unlocked in the right situation.
He was a five-star recruit out of high school and the top quarterback in the country as he committed to Oklahoma where he had a complicated career — fans chanting for him to be replaced by Caleb Williams — that led to him transferring to South Carolina. He has had to do a lot of maturing in his football career, but looks to be ready to compete.
This is a pick that can actually turn into a starter one day if he develops, rather than the usual late-round backup pick. He has pretty much every tool outside of the strongest arm at his disposal, which means he could be a fine fit in Klint Kubiak’s offense.
There are some other positions that they could have targeted here, but this is a good spot for someone to come in and learn behind Derek Carr to potentially surpass him one day soon.
Grade: B+
