Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler, who was once considered a Heisman Trophy front runner and a potential top-5 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, now finds himself riding the pine.
Rattler was benched last week in favor of true freshman Caleb Williams, who has now been named the team’s starting quarterback. And not co-quarterback, mind you, but QB1. Beyond just that, Williams is already now considered a Heisman contender.
That, understandably, does not sit well with Rattler. And although he’s stayed quiet and not made waves in the media, he did stir the post a bit this week after briefly changing his Instagram bio.
As part of the change, Rattler altered his bio from “Quarterback @ OU” to “Quarterback” before quickly reversing course and returning it to its original form.
Rattler could enter the transfer portal, which ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. believes he should do rather than declaring for the 2022 NFL Draft.
“I don’t think it makes sense for Rattler to enter the 2022 draft if he plays sparingly the rest of the season,” Kiper said. “He’s not going to want this tape being the last thing NFL scouts see. Rattler is probably going to have to transfer next year and find a new school, and I think he can reestablish himself there. If he can get back to the basics, he can still have an NFL future.
Rattler’s dad, Mike, recently told OU Daily that no decision on a potential transfer has been made.
“For right now, [Spencer] is focused on working for this team, and we’ll see what happens after Jan. 10,” Mike Rattler said. “Hopefully he’ll be playing in the national championship on Jan. 10, and then after that we’ll evaluate where he is as far as if any teams are interested in him in the NFL. If we think, ‘Hey, you know what, we may ought to do another year or something at Oklahoma, wherever’ … we’re leaving our options open. But for the most part, right now, we don’t even talk about it, because he’s got a task at hand to deal with.”
On Saturday, Rattler will remain on the sideline as QB2 when the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners visit the unranked Kansas Jayhawks.
More must-reads: