Spencer Rattler offers latest hint at his South Carolina, NFL future

South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler dropped another hint at his looming decision whether to turn pro or return to USC.

“I think it definitely does,” Rattler said Saturday when asked if his effort against No. 8 Clemson affected his thoughts on future plans. “It’s a big, big thing, but I’m gonna talk to my family and just just pray on it. We’ll see. We’ll see here soon.”

Rattler has been a force over the last two weeks in South Carolina’s victories over No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson, turning in two of his three most prolific passing games as a Gamecock in that span.

The ex-Oklahoma quarterback completed 54 of 75 passes (72%) for 792 yards, eight touchdowns and just two interceptions in South Carolina’s past two games. His 438 yards against Tennessee also set a career-high.

Rattler technically has two years of eligibility remaining, though it’s largely been expected that he would play just one season in Columbia.

“You want to talk about (offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield) taking a lot of crap, (Spencer) taken a lot of crap,” head coach Shane Beamer said Saturday. “He just comes to work every day, blocks the noise out. I called him into my office before the Tennessee game and I reminded Spencer, ‘You’re built for this. There’s no other quarterback I’d rather have. And you can cement your legacy here at South Carolina with with what you do here in these next two weeks.’ Hopefully he can come back next year and do it again, too.”

Once considered a possible No. 1 overall pick entering the 2022 NFL Draft cycle, his stock is harder to nail down after departing OU and landing at USC. Rattler was not ranked among ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s top 10 quarterbacks in this year’s cycle, though that list was published on Nov. 3.

Rattler on the year has 2,780 yards passing, 16 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 66.8 completion percentage.

South Carolina is currently ranked No. 20 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll and is awaiting its bowl destination.