“Saturday Down South Podcast” impresses with Rattler, Gamecocks

FeatheredCock · Jan 6, 2023

“Saturday Down South Podcast” impresses with Rattler, Gamecocks

January 6, 2023 / FROM: Smith News

Despite losing to Notre Dame in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at the end of the season, South Carolina still has a successful year and will look to build on that during the offseason heading into 2023.

One player the Gamecocks are waiting to see if they come back for the 2023 season is quarterback Spencer Rattler who had a strong end of the season. Rattler decides whether to return to Columbia for another season or draft for the 2023 NFL Draft.

On January 1, Saturday Down’s Connor O’Gara described South Rattler’s performance in the Gator Bowl and was impressed by what he saw from the Gamecocks’ signal caller.
“If this was a game where you were hoping the wheels would fall off for Spencer Rattler, let’s face it, there are people cheering against Spencer Rattler,” O’Gara said on the Down South Podcast on Saturday. “If you were hoping for the wheels to fall off, I think you were disappointed. Without a handful of key offensive weapons, it was definitely more good than bad from Rattler.”

O’Gara was impressed with the touchdown pass that Rattler threw to the wide receiver Xavier Legette and said the catch ‘might have been the catch of the bowl season.’

Rattler took it up a notch in the last three games of the season when he threw for 1,044 yards and 10 touchdowns while completing 84 of 122 passes against Tennessee, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

“I’d like to know how much he increased his draft stock in the last three games of the season because I think it was a lot,” O’Gara said. “I really do. If you still think Rattler will just be a total failure in the NFL, that’s on you. He’s going to have a lot of opinions out there. I’m still not exactly one to sit here and say that one day I’ll be a franchise starter.
“But for him, there is a lot to consider. Someone told me they made about $1.5 million in NIL this year. Would be even more next year if he let it run back. From the way he’s done, you better believe there’s more to come.

O’Gara believes that if Rattler decides to return for the 2023 season, he will be a top-five quarterback in the SEC.

“If he came back, I’d probably have his number five in the SEC,” O’Gara said. “Gosh, even that feels weak. I would have him right behind me Will Rogers at four. I would have Jayden Daniels at three. I would have Devin Leary At two. … Then I would have done it KJ (Jefferson) at one of course. In this group, there isn’t much separation. … That’s talk of whether Rattler is coming back.”

As for South Carolina, O’Gara believes the victories over Tennessee and Clemson will long be remembered by Gamecocks fans.

“I think Gamecock fans will be talking about this track for a long time,” O’Gara said. “They did a lot of things well and they did a lot of things that we didn’t see in the post-Spurrier era. It’s obvious from the wins, but even from a confidence standpoint, I thought last year was a different step. Being able to string it together. That was what last year’s team really didn’t do. They didn’t string those wins together like this year’s group did.”

O’Gara said South Carolina was “right there” this year in an SEC East that he believes was better than it has been in a while.

“I still think South Carolina should be very encouraged to know that they can hold their own,” O’Gara said. “I did this in a year that I think the (SEC) East has shown he’s better than he’s been in a long time. Might be the best thing the SEC East had in the mail (Tim) Tebov era and South Carolina was right there.”

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“Saturday Down South Podcast” impresses with Rattler, Gamecocks

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