Oklahoma Football: Fans should be excited about Spencer Rattler era

The Spencer Rattler era in Norman should yield plenty of success and that should have Oklahoma football fans more than excited.

For the first time since Lincoln Riley took over as head coach of Oklahoma, the Sooners look to be gearing up for an in-house quarterback to take the reins.

In Riley’s first year, he had Baker Mayfield who ended up winning the Heisman after transferring in from Texas Tech. And then he had Kyler Murray, a former Texas A&M Aggie, win the Heisman Trophy in 2018. He capped off a nice three-year run of transfer quarterbacks with Alabama’s Jalen Hurts coming in and leading the race for a bit before helping the Sooners to another College Football Playoff appearance.

But now Riley will explore some uncharted waters with former blue-chip recruit Spencer Rattler waiting in the wings and Hurts exhausting his eligibility after just one season with the Sooners. It’s time he keeps the starting quarterback job with a kid he recruited.

Sure, he recruited the other quarterbacks to transfer in, but this is different. He’s about to rely on a 3-4 year guy to lead his offense, and that should have Oklahoma fans excited.

Mayfield was a two-year starter for the Sooners and he excelled in his second season under center, so just imagine what Riley can do with a kid with all the talent in the world who will likely be around for at least another two seasons.

Rattler will still have to beat out Tanner Mordecai this summer for the starting job, but that’s something I think everyone is expecting. Don’t expect Rattler to be assuming he’s the No. 1 guy, though — he learned that this season after being named the No. 3 quarterback behind Mordecai on the depth chart.

The former five-star prospect from Arizona will have his work cut out, but he’s the perfect replacement for Hurts and a kid who fits Riley’s system. He can sling the ball and he’s not afraid to run. He’s not quite a dual-threat, but he has plenty of mobility to open up the offense.

Just when the Big 12 thought it would catch a break with the Sooners not bringing in another elite transfer quarterback (D’Eriq King was rumored at one point), it has to deal with Rattler for another few years.

Entering his redshirt freshman season in 2020, this kid could be a menace for opposing defenses. There’s a reason he was ranked the No. 1 quarterback in the 2019 class, and we’ll soon find that out.