It’s easy to see why Spencer Rattler wins over so many supporters. He plays the game with a lot of heart — hanging in the pocket under pressure, putting his body on the line, and throwing passes into some dangerously tight windows. He has the mentality you want in a quarterback. He’s given the New Orleans Saints a chance to win nearly every game he’s started for them, including Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. People want to root for him.
It isn’t like Kellen Moore doesn’t trust Rattler to throw deep and isn’t drawing up those routes for him to work with. Going into Week 4, Rattler ranked sixth in pass attempts of 20-plus yards, but he was 26th in completion percentage. It fluctuates from year to year but the NFL average on these throws hovers around 40%. That’s what Rattler averaged in college at Oklahoma and South Carolina, where windows were wider and he faced a lower quality of competition. Since turning pro, where he’s had to deal with narrower windows, less time to throw, and better opponents? His completion percentage has plummeted (all numbers via Pro Football Focus charting):
- 2025 with New Orleans Saints: 4 of 15 (26.7%) so far
- 2024 with New Orleans Saints: 5 of 26 (19.2%)
- 2023 with South Carolina Gamecocks: 18 of 41 (43.9%)
- 2022 with South Carolina Gamecocks: 26 of 59 (44.1%)
- 2021 with Oklahoma Sooners: 6 of 17 (35.3%)
- 2020 with Oklahoma Sooners: 29 of 57 (50.9%)
If Rattler didn’t make big strides in this area at the college level, it isn’t going to happen now. He had an average deep ball at SC and Oklahoma. In the NFL, where standards have to be higher, he’s well below-average. He lacks the accuracy and sense of anticipation to place those balls where they need to be past the sticks. It wasn’t even at this distance, but the 17-yard pass he threw to Brandin Cooks on Sunday should have been a touchdown. Cooks was wide open in the end zone with no defenders within 10 yards of him. Rattler’s placement was so far off that the ball hit the turf before Cooks could secure it and score. That was the difference in taking a fourth-quarter lead over Buffalo, 22-21 with an opportunity to go for two more, and settling for a 35-yard field goal. Buffalo scored on the next drive to make it 28-19, putting the game out of reach.
Again — this by itself doesn’t mean the Saints should bench him this week against the New York Giants. Neither does his 0-10 record as a starter. It isn’t all on Rattler. But we’re past the point where we should be making excuses for him. His offensive line isn’t much worse than other units around the league. Rattler has been under pressure on 34.8% of his dropbacks to pass, per PFF, which ranks 24th out of 35. That means almost two dozen quarterbacks have had to throw under pressure more often than him. Has it been a problem for him? Sure. But many passers have had it worse, and most of them have made it work.
Rattler hasn’t had a multiple-interception meltdown that cost the Saints a game. Yet. Right now he’s treading water. And that isn’t enough to win games. If this is his ceiling, and it might be, the Saints must reevaluate their stance at quarterback. Once he was named the starter, it was on Rattler to play well enough to keep Tyler Shough on the scout team this season. He hasn’t done that. And if this winless streak lasts much longer, the Saints are going to have to make a change. It’s just the way it is.
