It’s time for Spencer Rattler to make his NFL debut.
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen announced on Wednesday that Rattler will get the start in their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. He’ll start in place of usual starter Derek Carr, who is expected to miss multiple games with an oblique injury.
Carr went down in the Saints’ 26-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs early on Monday night with an oblique injury. He took a hard hit right as he was trying to make a pass late in the fourth quarter, and he is now expected to miss multiple games as a result. The Saints will host the Denver Broncos next Thursday night, so they have a short turnaround after their NFC South matchup.
Carr was replaced by Jake Haener on Monday night, who went 2-of-7 for 17 yards in the final few minutes of that contest. The second-year quarterback out of Fresno State had attempted just a single pass throughout his career in the league before Monday.
Instead of giving Haener another shot, the Saints will now turn to Rattler. New Orleans first selected him in the fifth round of the NFL Draft earlier this year out of South Carolina, where he transferred after starting his career out at Oklahoma with Lincoln Riley. Rattler threw for a career-high 3,186 yards and 19 touchdowns with the Gamecocks last season while leading them to a 5-7 finish.
Rattler has yet to appear in a game for the Saints this season, though he impressed in the preseason and mounted a game-winning drive in a matchup with the Cardinals. He went 7-of-13 for 105 yards and threw a touchdown in their preseason finale, too.
While the Saints will likely turn to Carr again when he is healthy, Rattler will get his first shot in the league on Sunday afternoon. He’s now the fifth rookie quarterback in the league to make a start this season. The Saints, after starting the season out with back-to-back blowout wins, have lost three straight. The Buccaneers, who flew to New Orleans early in order to avoid Hurricane Milton, sit at 3-2 and are coming off a 36-30 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last week.
