Saints coach Dennis Allen expects Spencer Rattler to compete for starting QB job
Former South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler may have had to wait until the fifth round before hearing his name called in the NFL Draft a few weeks ago. But make no mistake, the New Orleans Saints expect him to compete right away to be their starter.
“I think the plan is that he comes in and really, basically competes. And we’ll let the cards kind of play out as they do,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said on the Rich Eisen Show. I think we were excited about the fact that we got into the fifth round and he was still there. From where we had him graded on our board, we felt like this player was probably more of a second or third round talent.”
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Falling to pick 150 overall, Allen was candid as to another factor that went into waiting to draft Rattler.
“The fact that he was still sitting there in the fifth round, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that there were six quarterbacks already taken in this draft. That’s a little bit of a unique position in terms of the draft. So, the fact that he fell all the way to us to the fifth round, we were really excited about that.”
Heading into the draft, New Orleans had four quarterbacks on their roster. That didn’t include Taysom Hill, who despite being listed as a QB on the Saints official team website, also plays tight end.
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“The reality is I was kind of excited to see all of the quarterbacks go because at the spot that we were picking at quarterback was not a high priority at that spot. So, when you see some quarterbacks going, that means they’re pushing some other players down the board to you.”
As of this story, the Saints have trimmed their quarterback room back down to four, which doesn’t include Hill. While there’s three QBs on New Orleans roster with eight years or more of experience, Allen is eager to see what Rattler will do as he continues to grow.
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“He’s got tremendous talent. Now it’s about getting him in here, teaching him the things we want him to know and be able to execute the things we want him to be able to execute.”
The Saints will wrap-up OTA (organized team activities) this week with practices set for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Mandatory minicamps will begin on June 11-13.
