Spencer Rattler fell in draft due to 1 big factor?

Nov 5, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) watches from the sideline during the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

It took until the fifth round for South Carolina coach Spencer Rattler to come off the NFL Draft board, and a decision he made years ago may be partly to blame for that.

Rattler was drafted by the New Orleans Saints with the 150th overall pick. The slide surprised many, since scouts rated Rattler well as a pure passer, and some teams still do not have long-term solutions at quarterback. The Las Vegas Raiders, for instance, passed on Rattler just two picks before he was ultimately selected, just as they had in every previous round.

Why was Rattler still on the board in the fifth round despite the importance of his position? According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Rattler’s participation in Netflix’s “QB1: Beyond the Lights” and how he came off in it was a topic that a number of teams were still stuck on.

"It did not make him look great. And it is unbelievable how many different teams mentioned to me the image of him in that show and how they can't get it out of their heads."

Ian Rapoport on how a reality show filmed in high school is hurting Spencer Rattler now. pic.twitter.com/51n8nZA070

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 27, 2024

“Spencer Rattler did a reality show in high school. … It did not make him look great,” Rapoport said on NFL Network. “It is unbelievable how many different teams mentioned to me the image of him in that show and how they can’t get it out of their heads.”

Albert Breer of The MMQB added that the show came up in “just about every conversation” about Rattler, even though his coaches at South Carolina told NFL teams that he had matured significantly since then.

It's amazing over the last few years how the Netflix QB1 series ALWAYS came up with NFL people when discussing Spencer Rattler. Legitimately just about every conversation you had about the kid.

(In his defense, the South Carolina coaches told teams he grew up a lot.) https://t.co/jfE2Nvd47V

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 27, 2024

Rattler featured on season three of the show, which aired in 2019 and depicted him during his senior season at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix. There were certainly moments in which he did not come off well, including one clip in which Rattler blames his receivers for a bad practice and berates fellow quarterback JD Johnson over perceived bad throws while ducking responsibility himself.

Here’s a clip of @Netflix “QB1” on which former Phoenix Pinnacle QBs Spencer Rattler and JD Johnson competing together against the team defense and pushing each other as leaders of the team during and after the contest in practice in 2018. pic.twitter.com/YfZSOfiVdN

— DANA (@iam_DanaScott) August 17, 2019

It likely did not help that Rattler’s season ended prematurely due to an unspecified rules violation. He went on to play for Oklahoma before transferring to South Carolina after losing the starting job to Caleb Williams in 2021.

Rattler definitely comes off looking arrogant, immature, and unwilling to take responsibility for his own on-field mistakes. He was also a high school senior, and the video is six years old. For those reasons, his demeanor might be forgivable, but clearly, NFL evaluators have long memories and did not like the first impression they got. No wonder Netflix has struggled to find participants for subsequent seasons of their NFL version of the program.