Welcome to Purple & Gold Prospects!

This will be an ongoing series to get Vikings fans familiar with upcoming draft prospects. The focus of this series will be to cover prominent prospects entering the upcoming NFL Draft. The series will center on the position groups of highest need on the current Vikings roster, but will also cover stand out players across the spectrum. I hope you will join me on this continuing journey to learn more about upcoming draft classes.

With that let’s discover the possible future of your Minnesota Vikings!

Background

Height: 6010

Weight: 218 lbs.

Spencer Rattler was a 5-star recruit out of Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Arizona. This earned him many offers out of high school and he eventually committed to the Oklahoma Sooners for the 2019 season. After a breakout 2020 season, Rattler was hailed by many as the best QB prospect in college and in line to go number one overall when he would declare for the NFL Draft. In his first year as a starter, he accumulated 3,031 passing yards, 28 TDs, and 7 INTs including a completion rate of 67.5%. That came crashing down after a very disappointing 2021 campaign. He would transfer to South Carolina in 2021 and slowly rejuvenate his career. Rattler finished his time at South Carolina with 6,212 passing yards, 37 TDs, 20 INTs and a 67.5% completion percentage. He enters the 2024 Draft as a curious prospect who has re-captured some of the ability he displayed in 2020.

Games watched: Florida 2020, Clemson 2023, Florida 2023, Georgia 2023

Strengths

Rattler possess some elite traits. He has a slightly smaller frame around 6-1 but has filled that out nicely (listed at 218 lbs.) in his time at South Carolina. He is a strong runner. Rattler is physical and slippery through contact. He will pick up good yardage if it presents itself or the play breaks down. He has pretty good footwork on his drop back and gets back to his spot quickly. Decently quiet feet early in games as he starts to get into rhythm. His hips swivel nicely to align with quick throws. Rattler can also go through reads at a good pace when given time in the pocket. He has moments of pump fakes and looking off defenders to create space for his receivers. His arm talent is also incredible. He can easily challenge tight windows and layer balls all across the field. This is especially on display with the placement on accuracy on throws over then middle of the field. His accuracy on deep passes is also above average and has reps of excellent ball placement throughout his tape. Rattler also displays a very good ability to extend plays with his legs with accurate passes as he gives time for his receivers to come open. He seems very comfortable in this aspect compared to operating the Gamecocks offense from the pocket.

Weaknesses

While Rattler has extremely good traits there is much development needed on the technical side. While his footwork is sound in his drop backs he has immediate happy feet in his base once he gets to his spot. His dropback can also be inconsistent at times making life harder on his already poor offensive line. He also tends to bail pockets early to get on the run where he is more comfortable. Rattler tends to bail as soon as he sees a flash of opposing color come across. He also has many slight accuracy and ball placement issues across the field. Rattler tends to throw to open receivers rather than throwing to open space with anticipation of the receiver coming open. This can delay passes and on numerous occasions, it puts the ball in his position for a defender to make a play. Rattler will also lock onto receivers making it easy for the defense to defend. Doesn’t have the greatest poise and pocket presence with a tendency to air balls out with oncoming defenders. Could improve on placement, especially on intermediate to deep routes, to give receivers a better chance at the ball.

Conclusion

In 2020 Rattler was excellent. He threw with more anticipation and better placement that paired greatly with the traits he possesses. 2021 seemed to bring a huge blow to his confidence and a lot of that technicality disappeared. He has slowly brought some of that back into his game and had his best season in 2023 since his breakout with Oklahoma in 2020. For the Vikings, I don’t really see the fit. He is definitely an intriguing prospect with elite traits and arm talent that teams covet and will have him selected higher than expected in 2024. Minnesota is not really in need of a developmental prospect after drafting Jaren Hall in 2023. I expect him to go sometime late day 2 with other teams willing to take a chance on his upside and developing him over a year or two.

Grade

Accuracy: 12 / 15

Decision Making/Mental Ability: 10.5 / 15

Mechanics: 9.5 / 15

Touch/Trajectory: 11.5 / 15

Arm Strength: 8.7 / 10

Athleticism: 8.2 / 10

Durability: 8 / 10

Pocket Presence: 6.5 / 10

OVERALL: 74.9 – Early Fourth Round