Is Rattler your guy next year?

A comparison of some advanced metrics between rookie QB's:



On Target %

Jayden Daniels- 78.7%

Drake Maye- 76.4%

Bo Nix- 75.5%

Spencer Rattler- 71.4%

Caleb Williams- 71.3%

Michael Penix- 66.7%



Drop %

Spencer Rattler- 8.0%

Bo Nix- 6.2%

Jayden Daniels- 4.2%

Caleb Williams- 3.8%

Drake Maye- 3.4%

Michael Penix- 3.0%



Bad Throw %

Jayden Daniels- 14.2%

Bo Nix- 15.8%

Drake Maye- 16.1%

Spencer Rattler- 18.9%

Caleb Williams- 21.8%

Michael Penix- 25.8%



Pressure %

Caleb Williams- 23.7%

Spencer Rattler- 22.4%

Drake Maye- 19.8%

Jayden Daniels- 17.3%

Bo Nix- 16.7%

Michael Penix- 12.3%



Air Yards per Completion

Spencer Rattler- 5.6 air yards per completion

Jayden Daniels- 5.5 air yards per completion

Michael Penix- 5.1 air yards per completion

Caleb Williams- 4.9 air yards per completion

Drake Maye- 4.8 air yards per completion

Bo Nix- 4.5 air yards per completion



As someone who has been a pretty big Spencer Rattler supporter, I must say some of these numbers are encouraging in looking at the bigger picture. It confirms that Rattler has been under as much pressure due to poor OL play as just about any rookie in this draft class with only Caleb Williams having slightly more pressure to deal with. It also confirms that no rookie QB has been even close to as impacted by dropped balls as Spencer Rattler has this season. Other than Bo Nix, Rattler has had to deal with basically double the drops that other rookie QB's have had to deal with. Despite being under constant pressure, Rattler's on target and bad throw percentages are right in the middle of the pack among rookie QB's this season. One could probably assume that if he was in a better situation in terms of OL play, that he would likely have better percentages in these areas. What I find interesting with these numbers is that despite being under a ton of pressure, he's also leading the rookie class in air yards per completion. Meaning that he's not doing simple check downs and is actually pushing the ball downfield on his completions more than any rookie in this class. I'd also venture to say Rattler has had among the most difficult matchups of these rookie QB's (Bucs, Broncos, Chargers, Commanders, Packers, Raiders).

None of this is to say Rattler hasn't had his fair share of rookie mistakes, or that he doesn't have some flaws to correct, but simply to put in perspective that he's shown some potential under some really difficult circumstances. I'd really like to see him get a start vs the Bucs this weekend with Kamara and Olave back in the lineup. Even if we don't win, I'd like to see him put in a positive performance from start to finish. He's played a few really good halves in his 6 appearances (1st half vs Bucs, 2nd half vs Commanders, 1st half vs Raiders). Ending the season on a positive note with a good game to end the year would be a nice way to end the season and at least provide some more optimism about what he could be long term for us as a potential QB of the future.