Saints HC Dennis Allen: Spencer Rattler ‘improving every day’

We all know the top six rookie quarterbacks, the guys who flew off the draft board back in April and were gone by the 12th pick of the first round. Nope, this story is about the seventh QB — Spencer Rattler of the Saints.

Rattler was once ahead of Caleb Williams, the top pick of the draft, on a depth chart. That was back in 2021, when both were at Oklahoma. They both left the Sooners and ended up on opposite sides of the country. Rattler settled in at South Carolina and ended up going in the fifth round, 137 selections after Bo Nix went at 12.

Rattler is with the Saints now, trying to impress enough so that coach Dennis Allen will place him second team behind veteran Derek Carr. He is vying with Jake Haener, the Saints’ fourth-round pick from 2023. Haener was a star at Fresno State who was MVP at the 2023 Senior Bowl. Coincidentally, Rattler was MVP of the top all-star game earlier this year.

Allen said this about Rattler as the Saints kicked off practices this week at Cal-Irvine.

“I think he’s improving every day,” Allen told reporters. “There’s still some things that he’s doing – just understanding how to play within the scheme of the offense, how to get through your progressions, knowing how to listen to your feet, when to take your chances down the field, when it’s time to check the ball down – all those things are pretty good learning experiences.

“I wanted to put him in a situation (Monday in practice), fourth-and-5, we’re in a move-the-ball situation see if he could execute and make a play. And he did, he made a hell of a throw on the out route to get the first down in that situation. So I see some of that confidence, which I think is good at the quarterback position, and yet there’s some times where I think we’ve got to pull the reins back just a little bit.”

Rattler took 2nd-team Saints reps after Haener had skin cancer removed

Rattler took most of the second-team reps Monday and will presumably do so Tuesday. Haener will be back at training camp Wednesday. He took time off from practice so that he could have a procedure to remove some recently discovered skin cancer.

Allen said one of the quarterbacks will emerge from preseason and the likely No. 2. The Saints play their first game — against the Cardinals — this Saturday. They’ll also have games against the 49ers (Aug. 18) and Titans (Aug 25).

“We’re trying to determine if we have a backup quarterback on our roster right now,” the Saints coach told reporters. “I’ve seen some signs that I like.

“And yet, I want to get them into real live situations, under the lights, and see how both of these guys operate in that environment. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen out of both Spencer and Jake, and yet, we haven’t made any decisions there. I want to see what they operate like under the lights.

“I would say, I’m going to give these young guys every opportunity to prove that they’re deserving of that role. And that comes through what you do out here on the practice field, and what they’re going to do when they get into the preseason games.”