Week 7 contains a showdown between two quarterbacks selected at different ends of the 2024 NFL draft and also competed for the same job in college. Spencer Rattler of the 1-5 New Orleans Saints and Caleb Williams of the 3-2 Chicago Bears will face off for the first time in their football careers on opposite sidelines. The careers of these two quarterbacks have felt intertwined since their early collegiate days.
Spencer Rattler set numerous passing records as a high school star in Arizona and was one of the most heavily recruited players in the country before committing to the Oklahoma Sooners. As a true freshman with the Sooners in 2019, Rattler backed up Jalen Hurts and saw some action but was still able to redshirt. He’d take over starting duties in 2020, leading Oklahoma to a 9-2 record, Big 12 championship, and a Cotton Bowl win over the Florida Gators. In the process, Rattler led the Big 12 with a 67.5% completion percentage, 3,031 passing yards, and 28 touchdowns while throwing 7 interceptions and earning 1st Team All-Big 12 honors.
Entering 2021, Rattler was hyped as a potential Heisman Trophy contender. While the Sooners got off to a 5-0 start, Rattler came under significant criticism for his play. In a win over the Texas Longhorns in Week 6, Rattler was benched before halftime. He would not play any significant snaps for the Sooners the rest of that season, finishing with a 74.9% completion percentage and 1,483 passing yards with 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in nine official games and six starts. The quarterback Rattler was pulled for? A freshman named Caleb Williams.
Rattler would transfer to South Carolina in 2022. In his first season with the Gamecocks, he completed 66.2% of his passes for 3,026 yards with 18 touchdowns and an SEC-worst 12 interceptions. All his numbers improved in 2023, as Rattler had a 68.9% completion percentage for 3,186 yards with 19 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. The Gamecocks were just 13-12 in two years with Rattler as their starter.
Caleb Williams came to Oklahoma in 2021 as the most heavily recruited quarterback in his class. He was the 2020 Washington D.C. Gatorade Player of the Year. Upon taking over for Rattler in 2021 at Oklahoma, Williams led the Sooners to an 11-2 finish and completed 64.5% of his passes for 1,912 yards with 21 touchdowns and 4 interceptions along with 442 yards rushing and 6 scores. Despite not playing until Week 6, Williams earned 2nd Team All-Big 12 honors.
In another twist of fate, both Rattler and Williams left Oklahoma after the 2021 season. While Rattler ended up at one USC (South Carolina), Williams followed coach Lincoln Riley to the actual USC, the Southern California Trojans.In 2022, his first year at USC, Williams earned every conceivable individual offensive award. He completed 66.6% of his throws for 4,537 yards with 42 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Those statistics earned him unanimous All-American, national player of the year, the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and the Heisman Trophy. Williams wasn’t quite as prolific in 2023, but still had a 68.6% completion percentage for 3,633 yards with 30 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. USC had an 11-3 record in Williams’ first year but fell to 8-5 in 2023. In both years, the Trojans lost critical games that would have brought more meaning to the end of their season.
Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler again found themselves at opposite ends of the spectrum in the 2024 NFL draft. Williams was the first overall selection by the Chicago Bears. Rattler fell all the way to the fifth round to the Saints, where he was the first quarterback chosen after six were chosen in round 1. While Williams was anointed the starter in training camp, Rattler wasn’t expected to play at all behind starter Derek Carr. That changed when Carr got hurt early in the year, then later knocked out for the rest of the season with another injury.
Rattler wound up appearing in seven games with six starts as a rookie. He had a 57% completion percentage while throwing for 1,317 yards with 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The injury-depleted Saints did not win any of Rattler’s six starts, averaging a meager 12.3 points in those contests. The first overall draft pick fared better statistically, but not in the win column. Williams started all 17 games, with the Bears going 5-12 and the quarterback completing 62.5% of his passes for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.
This offseason, both Williams and Rattler got new, offensive-minded, head coaches. Kellen Moore took over in New Orleans, while the highly-sought Ben Johnson landed with Chicago. Each quarterback has benefited from the change and has shown noticeable improvement from their rookie year. Through five games, Williams has a 61.7% completion percentage with 1,179 yards and 9 touchdowns with 2 interceptions. After fending off rookie second round pick Tyler Shough in training camp for the starting job, Rattler has completed 68.5% of his passes for 1,217 yards with 6 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Unfortunately for Rattler and the Saints, his improvement has yet to translate into wins. Rattler is now just 1-11 as a starter and New Orleans averages only 15.4 points in the games he’s started, including 18.5 this season. This will be the third game Rattler has played against another quarterback that was selected in the same draft as him. The Saints lost 33-10 to Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos last year and dropped a 25-19 battle to Drake Maye and the New England Patriots last Week. For Spencer Rattler, this game against Caleb Williams has a little more personal meaning because the careers of both have been so intertwined. There’s a good chance that Rattler will have to outplay his former Oklahoma Sooners rival if the Saints are going to beat the Bears.