Saints' Spencer Rattler to Make NFL Debut vs. Bucs in Week 6 amid Derek Carr Injury

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler will make his NFL debut on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Head coach Dennis Allen announced that Rattler will start in place of Derek Carr, who's dealing with an oblique injury.

"We just internally talked a lot about it and felt like in this particular game, that he was going to give us the best chance to win," Allen told reporters. "Both him and Jake both have been practicing extremely hard, preparing to be the starter. It was kind of the conversation that we had at the beginning of the year that Jake would be the No. 2 to start ... It was really basically going to be kind of a week-to-week deal and we just felt like this was, for this game, going to give us the best option."

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reported Carr could be sidelined for multiple games.

The four-time Pro Bowler was injured in the team's 26-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Jake Haener was the only other active quarterback, with Rattler listed as the emergency third option. Haener went 2-of-7 for 17 yards.

The 2023 fourth-round pick also got some snaps in garbage time in New Orleans' blowouts of the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys.

While Haener was ostensibly the backup, the Saints coaches continued to play their cards close to the chest as to who was truly the understudy to Carr. Now, their preference seems clear.

Rattler was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school but ultimately failed to meet his sizable expectations in college. During a five-year run between stops at Oklahoma and South Carolina, he threw for 10,807 yards, 77 touchdowns and 32 interceptions.

The 24-year-old was the No. 67 overall player and sixth-best quarterback on Bleacher Report's final big board for the 2024 NFL draft but slipped to the 150th pick in the fifth round.

Rattler saw action in all three of the Saints' preseason games and finished 20-of-38 for 202 yards and a touchdown.

Even before his oblique injury, Carr's performance was tailing off. He had 546 yards through the air along with three touchdowns and three interceptions as New Orleans lost three games in a row.

It stands to reason Rattler at least has the chance if he plays well enough to show why he should remain the starter moving forward, even once Carr returns.