Why Tim Tebow counts Spencer Rattler among SEC’s top 5 quarterbacks

Former University of Florida star and current SEC Network analyst Tim Tebow considers South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler one of the best quarterbacks in the conference.

Tebow — speaking Monday in an SEC Network segment from the conference’s media days event in Atlanta — ranked Rattler as the No. 4 quarterback in the SEC behind Alabama’s Bryce Young (No. 1), Kentucky’s Will Levis (No. 2) and Florida’s Anthony Richardson (No. 3). Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker was No. 5.

Tebow described Rattler as “super talented, very accurate, very poised. Will he have a good enough offensive line and a good enough receiving corps? But what a talented kid. He was one of the top quarterbacks coming out (of high school). I really like his game. I think when he plays confident, he plays elite.”

Rattler transferred to South Carolina last December after three seasons at Oklahoma, including a 2020 season in which he earned all-conference and all-freshman honors galore for a Sooners teamed that finished No. 6 in the final AP Top 25 poll.

A former five-star recruit with NFL buzz, Rattler is expected to start for coach Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks in 2022 after a disappointing 2021 season that saw him benched for Caleb Williams (now at Southern Cal) after initial Heisman hype.

Rattler on Monday was also named to the 85-player watchlist for the Maxwell Award, which is “presented annually to the (most) outstanding player in college football,” per a release.