#Broncos Sean Payton on Spencer Rattler. They were really impressed with him in pre-draft process/meetings pic.twitter.com/yIo69y2XW0
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) October 15, 2024
Spencer Rattler will have a big fan on the opposing sideline when his New Orleans Saints kick off with the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Sean Payton said the Broncos thoroughly scouted the rookie quarterback ahead of this year’s NFL draft, and he was impressed by what the South Carolina product showed him.
Payton and the Broncos college scouting department invested just as much time in evaluating Rattler as they did the other quarterbacks in the draft class, including their new starter Bo Nix.
“We spent a lot of time with him. I’d say there was five. Pro day and then we had a private workout. We were all in Phoenix, the Scottsdale area, where he’s from,” Payton recalled Tuesday. “Steak dinner, the whole nine yards. Tested in the morning (and watched him) throw. He did really well.”
So Payton wasn’t exactly blown away when the Saints immediately chose to start Rattler after Derek Carr’s injury last week. He’s seen the young quarterback tackle everything college football could throw at him, and he knows the Broncos defense will need to work hard to pressure Rattler in his second career start.
Payton continued: “It’s not surprising to see (him do well). There is, again, I’m going to use an analogy. There’s a calmness when he plays. He too has been through the adversity early on. Coming out of high school, to Oklahoma and then transferring. There is a confidence when he’s on the field. You see that in the preseason and last week. It’s not too big for him, and he has a live arm. We were really impressed.”
At the same time, that exposure could have given Payton and his coaches some insight on how to, well, rattle Rattler. They didn’t draft him when they had the chance, but that’s probably more due to having taken Nix in the first round while lacking enough picks to address higher-priority needs. But if Rattler impresses on Thursday night and hands Payton’s team a loss? It sounds like the former Saints coach would be first in line to shake his hand.
