Saints' Spencer Rattler Pick Hailed as Steal of NFL Draft by Fans After Slide to R5

The wait for Spencer Rattler—and quarterbacks in general—is over at the 2024 NFL draft.

The New Orleans Saints selected the South Carolina quarterback with a fifth-round pick (No. 150 overall) on Saturday, making him the first player at the position selected at this year's draft since Thursday, when Bo Nix was the sixth quarterback off the board at No. 12.

The response to the Saints adding the potential long-term successor for Derek Carr was largely positive on social media:

Rattler, 23, should have a chance to immediately be Carr's backup, though Jake Haener, Nathan Peterman and Kellen Mond will be gunning for that role too. Carr is 33, so he has a few more years left in the tank and is under contract through 2026. But in theory, Rattler could work his way into a starting job in the next few seasons.

The B/R NFL Scouting Department described the fifth-round pick as "arm talent personified," adding that there are "only a handful of players who throw with his flexibility and arm strength and accuracy. Rattler has the aggressive mindset to be a difference maker, too. He'll just need time to find the balance with his aggression and continue adjusting to pro-style passing concepts."

The Saints have had an interesting draft, addressing needs at offensive tackle by selecting Taliese Fuaga in the first round and cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry in the second. The team didn't make any selections in the third or fourth rounds before ending Rattler's surprising slide.

One of the factors in that drop down the board may have been a reality show he appeared in during his high school days:

Rattler will have the chance to prove that some of the immaturity of his past is in the rearview mirror. He may not see the field in 2024, but with a strong summer, he'll at worst earn the backup gig behind Carr, and at best put serious pressure on the incumbent.

He has the talent to eventually win the job outright. For the Saints, taking him in the fifth round was an incredibly low-risk bet on that possibility.