Buccaneers Predicted to Add Former 28-TD QB With ‘Big Arm’

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The Buccaneers could consider selecting South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler in the draft.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could add one more quarterback to its roster.

As predicted by CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards in his 2024 NFL mock draft, he projects the Buccaneers to select South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler with the 57th overall pick in the second round.

Spencer Rattler Was Highly Touted QB Early in College Career

The 23-year-old Rattler is a former highly touted quarterback. In fact, he was once considered the No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2019 coming out of high school. Rattler lived up to those expectations early on in his collegiate career while playing for the Oklahoma Sooners.

The 6-foot Rattler led the Sooners to a Big 12 Championship during his first season as starter in 2020. Rattler threw for 28 touchdowns against just seven interceptions while posting a 67.5% completion rate. He led the Big 12 across the board in most major passing categories, including touchdowns, passing yards, completion percentage and pass efficiency rating.

His stellar redshirt freshman season made Rattler the Heisman Trophy favorite entering the 2021 season. However, despite leading the Sooners to a 6-0 record to start out the season, he lost his starting job to then-Sooners quarterback — and projected No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft — Caleb Williams. Rattler lost his job to Williams during a rivalry game against the Texas Longhorns where the Sooners fell behind by 21 points before being led to victory by the latter quarterback.

Rattler has spent the past two seasons as the South Carolina Gamecocks’ starting quarterback, posting a decent stat line in the process — 37 touchdowns against 20 interceptions with a 67.5% completion rate.

While Rattler may be undersized for a passer — he’s just 6 feet tall and 211 pounds — he’s one of the more skilled quarterbacks in this draft class. There’s a reason why he was considered the top quarterback in the nation coming out of high school and why he was starting for a powerhouse school in the Sooners once upon a time.

As Sports Illustrated’s JC Allen describes in his scouting report of Rattler, he has a “big arm” but can get “robotic” in the pocket.

“Rattler has a big arm and can dot the field. He has a quick release and shows good anticipation of finding receivers as they come out of their breaks,” writes Allen. “He’ll outwork anyone in the building and was voted team captain in his junior and senior years. Rattler can get a little too robotic in the pocket when processing reads and loses accuracy when on the move or forced to throw off base.”

Why Selecting Spencer Rattler in Round 2 Could Be Problematic

There’s little doubt that Rattler has a lot of potential and could very well emerge as a starting quarterback at some point. However, selecting Rattler with a second-round pick just a couple months after signing Baker Mayfield as the team’s franchise quarterback could raise some eyebrows.

According to Bleacher Report’s scouting report of Rattler, he’s a projected third-round pick. In other words, the Buccaneers would not only be using a Day 2 pick on a quarterback, they’d be reaching to select him.

Considering Tampa Bay’s backups are less than stellar — Kyle Trask and John Wolford are the backups — the Buccaneers could very well select a quarterback in the draft. But the idea of selecting Rattler as early as the second round may cause a bit of a quarterback controversy — especially if Mayfield starts to struggle during the 2024 season.

DJ Siddiqi covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has covered the NFL and NBA for Forbes, ClutchPoints, CBS Sports, 24/7 Sports and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy. More about DJ Siddiqi