Take Two: Will Spencer Rattler be a Heisman contender at Oklahoma?
MORE TAKE TWO: Did Aranda put LSU over the top in Sopsher's recruitment?
Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. Baker Mayfield won it last season before becoming the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. In 2008, Sam Bradford was the winner.
That’s three Oklahoma quarterbacks in a decade to win the Heisman and coming to Norman for next season is five-star Spencer Rattler, who threw for more than 11,000 yards in his high school career and fits coach Lincoln Riley’s offense perfectly.
Rattler could have stayed in the Pac-12, gone to the Texas schools, done anything he wanted because he’s such a special talent, but he picked the Sooners - and it might have been the perfect decision since his talents jell with Riley’s offensive vision so well.
Both Mayfield, from Texas Tech, and Murray, from Texas A&M, were transfers who picked up Oklahoma’s offense quickly and ran it right to the College Football Playoff. Mayfield had such a phenomenal season that he jumped right to the top of the NFL Draft board and went first overall. Murray would be in the first-round discussion but he’s headed to play baseball for the Oakland A’s.
Rattler has the ranking. He has the stats. He has the opportunity to come to Norman and compete for a starting job. Is it almost inevitable that a couple years down the road he will be right in the Heisman Trophy discussion as well?
FIRST TAKE: JOSH MCCUISTION, SOONERSCOOP.COM
“It’s not hard to imagine a world where Rattler is that next guy as he is an interesting combination of the two players. As skilled as Murray is with his feet, in a lot of ways he is a more natural pocket passer than Mayfield, who kind of developed that more and more over time but always looks most at home when it becomes backyard football. Rattler has that same sort of natural instinct when the play breaks down that he tends to just make things happen. However, he also has some of Murray’s ability to deliver a very natural vertical strike.
"I’m anxious to see him in person and get a better feel for some of his thought process because the two things that made each player so special is they had such a good feel for when to take chances and when to be aggressive.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“You can certainly picture it in that offense. If you have a quarterback who’s successful, knows how to distribute the ball, has a lot of talent, can move around, then he’s going to be a Heisman candidate. You can certainly see Rattler being that candidate down the road. Trevor Lawrence is going to win it one of these next two years and I don’t see Rattler jumping in right away, but in two or three years from now he should be a Heisman candidate.”
