Bob Stoops on Spencer Rattler: 'He ought to be a Heisman leader'

Former Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops, now an analyst for FOX Sports, expressed his outright support for Spencer Rattler’s 2021 Heisman Trophy campaign on Thursday.

Stoops won the national championship in 2000 with the Sooners, and he won ten Big 12 titles in his 18-year Oklahoma career before retiring in 2017.

“I believe Spencer Rattler is just scratching the surface of his potential,” Stoops said on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff. “You look at, first of all, why he ought to be a Heisman leader or contender: he’s playing quarterback for Lincoln Riley.”

Riley took over as head coach after Stoops retirement in 2017, following a two-year term as the Sooners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Since then, he has produced two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, and one runner-up in Jalen Hurts.

“When you look at Lincoln with Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts,” Stoops said, continuing, “all three of those guys averaged like 48 touchdowns a year to seven interceptions, around 4,600 yards passing. In a shortened season, Spencer had 34 touchdowns to seven interceptions, and around 3,200 yards. So, he’s very comparable talent-wise.”

Rattler in 2020 finished with a 68.8 completion percentage, leading all Big 12 quarterbacks, and he also paced the conference in passing yards and touchdowns. As Stoops pointed out, he managed to tally those stats in just 11 games, as the season was shortened due to COVID-19. Additionally, Rattler threw five of his seven interceptions in the first four games of the season; in the final seven games, he threw for 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions.

“[Rattler] has an incredible release, a great arm and that offense around him,” Stoops said. “They’re going to have more possessions [this season] I believe because the defense is going to give them the ball back more. He’s got more experience at receiver, h-back [and] tight end.”

Oklahoma will have its two leading wide receivers from last season, as both sophomore Marvin Mims and junior Theo Wease return to campus. Additionally, the Sooners return their top receiving tight end — also a top-three receiver on the team last year — junior Austin Stogner.

At running back, Oklahoma did lose its top two rushers from last season. TJ Pledger transferred to Utah, while Rhamondre Stevenson was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. However, the Sooners will still have a very experienced rushing attack, led by incoming Tennessee transfer Eric Gray, who ranked sixth in the SEC last season with 85.8 rushing yards per game.

“We’re always at OU going to be able to run the football well,” Stoops said. “We’ve got an experienced line, experienced running backs back. So, I think Spencer is really going to have a huge year, similar to those like Baker, Kyler and Jalen Hurts as well.”