The New Orleans Saints picked a quarterback in the 5th round of the 2024 draft, and needless to say there's been a lot of excitement.
But what does the Saints defense know about Spencer Rattler? Star safety Tyrann Mathieu addressed the subject recently in a podcast interview with Robert Griffin III.
"He was like the Aaron Rodgers of high school football, you know what I mean? … The kid can always spin the rock," Mathieu said.
There's good reason for Mathieu's familiarity with Rattler's prep football exploits. The former LSU star began his career with the Arizona Cardinals. Mathieu's run there (2014-'17) overlapped with Rattler's time at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, where he established himself as the top recruit in his class.
That's also the timeframe when Rattler's star was creating buzz not only for his play, but personality. His demeanor was not shown in the best light on the Netflix special he was the subject of during his recruiting process. That image has been difficult to shake and has been pointed to as one of the reasons he dropped to the 5th round in the draft. Rattler was seen as a potential first-round pick during his early days at Oklahoma, but was eventually beaten out by Caleb Williams, who went No. 1 in the same draft. Rattler transferred to South Carolina, where he finished out his career before being picked by the Saints.
"We’ve all gone through challenging stuff. I went through some of the same challenges as a youngster, right?" Mathieu said, referring to some of his own issues during his time at LSU and beyond. "A lot of people that I’ve talked to, they’ve said that he’s come far … and you know, I think as a youngster, that’s all you can ask of them is to grow and learn from things that you need to learn from and then just start, just put your best foot forward going forward."
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Rattler is one of 60 players set to take the field in Metairie this weekend for rookie minicamp. That group includes 7 draft picks, a handful of second-year pros, UDFAs and a host of tryout players. But while that will be his first chance to make an impact, it's not what puts him in the best position to develop and succeed as a pro. That will come throughout the rest of the offseason, when he'll be forced to face the Saints stout secondary each day in practice and be able to learn from a veteran in Derek Carr. Rattler will also likely be competing with second-year pro Jake Haener for the backup job down the line.
"[Rattler is] gonna get plenty of work and he’s in a good [group], too. ... I think he’ll learn from [Carr]. He’ll learn a lot from him, and especially his first year,” Mathieu said.
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MORE FROM TYRANN MATHIEU
On Marshon Lattimore
“He represents everything it means to play defense, you know, for the Saints in Dennis Allen’s defense. We play a lot of man-to-man, it’s a lot of man-on-man, you know what I mean, wherever he goes, I think we really count on Latt in that regard, especially in our division and our conference, too, man, like, I mean, every team has a really good receiver, and you have to have a really good corner or you don’t have a chance. So he provides us with that security and he’s motivated, too. The last couple years hasn’t really gone his way, either. I’ve talked to him a few times this offseason and, like, he’s itching to get back to it, because people aren’t talking about him. He’s one of the best corners in this league. He’s definitely motivated and I think he’ll be ready to roll this year.”
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On rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry
“Man, he’s so polished, you know, and I always respect that, because a lot of people think I’m a flashy player, but I’m really a technician. I always relied on my coaches, you know, to kind of give me that stuff and then I just put my own sauce on it. So, I say that to say, man, he’s a polished player, he comes from under Nick Saban, so I already know he understands the cornerback position, the nickel position and the safety position. I know he’s a smart player, right, and so obviously there’s learning curves when you come into the league, but I think he has more than enough talent, man, more than enough, you know, just … thinking ability that he’ll be all right, especially in this defense. We play four or five cornerbacks, you know what I mean, so we’re gonna need him to play early and play big for us.”
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On head coach Dennis Allen
“He’s a good coach, man, like you know, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I’ve been around some of the best. I’ve played under Romeo Crennel. I’ve played under Todd Bowles. I’ve played under [Steve] Spagnuolo in Kansas City, and he’s up there, man. When he’s on, he’s on. I like to tell people, too, man, sometimes you go through rough spots, you go through rough patches. But I don’t think that’s like an indictment on your character, you, like, it might just be the season you’re in, you know what I mean? Like, he’s more than capable, you know, of leading us. I think the kind of like, what people are saying outside of us, we don’t really feel that, you know what I mean? Like, we see him in the hall, we see him in the cafeteria, it’s always love, he’s always engaging with us. So I think that as a professional player, that’s all you can really ask for from your coach … and I think he represents all that.”