Saints' Spencer Rattler was once projected as No. 1 overall pick, and now New Orleans QB is forcing a Tyler Shough controversy

Billy Heyen

Saints' Spencer Rattler was once projected as No. 1 overall pick, and now New Orleans QB is forcing a Tyler Shough controversy image

It's so easy to forget. 

How many people remember that Spencer Rattler was once viewed as a possible No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick? Surely, most now view the New Orleans Saints' quarterback as a stopgap QB option at best.

But it was heading into the 2021 college football season that Rattler was viewed as a candidate to go first overall the following spring.

He didn't pay off that promise, and it wasn't until 2024 that he was finally in the draft and being chosen in the fifth round.

But who's to say Rattler doesn't have at least a little bit of that potential still within him?

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So far this season, he has made a number of throws that can certainly make you a believer.

The problem for the Saints, of course, is that they just spent a second-round pick on Tyler Shough. But it's an odd conundrum.

You'd think the newly drafted player is younger, but no. Shough was the oldest QB in the draft.

Rattler is actually an exact 365 days younger than Shough.

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If there's a QB of the future on this Saints roster, it might be Rattler.

He's still got a lot of growth to make happen to prove he's a long-term NFL starter.

But Rattler is finally getting the chance at extended action to spread his wings, and so far, he's starting to lift off just a bit.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle