Satterfield expounds more on selling points to Rattler
There was the unconventional sales pitch from Marcus Satterfield—telling Spencer Rattler the whole world thinks both stink—then there were the more conventional messages.
Those involved Satterfield pitching his NFL-style offense and telling Rattler, a former top 15 player in his class, what the Gamecocks are doing will help him once he’s in the NFL.
Both seemed to work.
“My selling point to him, and we had a couple NFL quarterbacks help us and reach out, the importance of playing in a system where you huddle sometimes and have play calls and have to have a cadence,” Satterfield said. “It’s preparation for the next level.”
Rattler committed to South Carolina early in December, linking up with former Oklahoma teammate Austin Stogner and former Sooner coach Shane Beamer.
A preseason Heisman candidate entering the year, he seems the odds-on favorite as it sits right now to start for the Gamecocks next season and Satterfield thinks Rattler will be able to absorb a lot about the NFL in his time with South Carolina, whether it be one year or two.
“Obviously Spencer is a really good player and we’re going to make him as good as we possibly can. He has to experience something new to prepare him for the next level. The fact we’re an NFL, pro-style system he’s going to come in and get acclimated to that,” Satterfield said.
“When his time comes—whether it’s one year or two years—he’ll be ready to roll when he gets into the rookie minicamp. I think that was huge and very appealing to him.”
Now it’ll be up to the Gamecock offensive coaching staff to find ways to use Rattler and put him in spots to thrive. Satterfield said he hopes to use him similar to another former Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman winner.
“To me, he’s going to look a lot like Baker Mayfield. I told him I’m sorry and I’m not trying to compare him to Oklahoma guys, but he’s an athletic guy who gets under center sometimes with the explosiveness,” Satterfield said. “He’ll show from under center with his play-pass and keeper game. I think he’s going to be able to do some really nice things.”
Rattler has completed 70.1 percent of his passes in his career and averaging 8.9 yards per attempt with 40 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.
He has rushed 127 times for 260 yards but Satterfield said his mobility is not the same as a Luke Doty, who’s more of a runner.
“He’s got great ball skills, which for quarterbacks means how he handles the ball with hand-offs and fakes. His creativity is going to improve. I think he’s a little different than Luke because Luke you can run some more zone read,” he said. “Spencer’s not. He can run and extend plays and he’s mobile but he’s not really a zone read type guy."
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