Just over a week before their first game of the season, Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley has announced his starting quarterback. To no one’s surprise, Riley has given the starting job to Spencer Rattler. Rattler has been labeled a future star for the Sooners for over a year now. In 2019, he committed to Oklahoma as the number one dual-threat quarterback in the country. After coming to Oklahoma last season, Rattler red-shirted and is now a redshirt freshman for the 2020 season.
According to Lincoln Riley, Rattler beat out redshirt sophomore Tanner Mordecai for the starting job. Mordecai was dealing with a hamstring injury throughout the majority of training camp, which factored into this decision. Still, it was expected for Rattler to win the job and succeed Jalen Hurts as Oklahoma’s next great quarterback.
As you would expect, Rattler enters this season with some of the highest expectations of any player in college football. Simply because of the team he will be playing for, some people predict him to not only dominate the BIG-12, but even put his name in Heisman Trophy conversations. Fellow analyst Caleb Shaffer even suggests that it is bold to predict that he will not win the Heisman Trophy.
Oklahoma’s last three quarterbacks have been Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hurts. This list is comprised of two Heisman winners, two number one picks, three top 60 picks, and numerous trips to the College Football Playoffs. Spencer Rattler has some big shoes to fill, so maybe we should temper our expectations. However, factoring together his talent and his extraordinary coach Lincoln Riley, it seems acceptable to expect great things.
Rattler will lead the Sooners in week one against Missouri State before playing some in-conference games. He enters the season with his team as favorites to make the College Football Playoffs. Much pressure will be on Rattler’s shoulders. Even though he is only a redshirt freshman, nothing suggests he cannot handle the pressure.
