Open Post | Weekend, July 17th-19th
Posted on: July 17, 2020
Spencer Rattler – Made for This
– James Hale
I know some of you don’t believe it, but we are going to have a quarterback battle this summer, and without question sophomore, Tanner Mordecai (6’2, 210) believes it, or he would be setting up a locker at some other program. OU coach Lincoln Riley continues to talk about these two saying that he believes in both of them, and both can get the job done at OU.
Former five-star and number one ranked redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler (6’0, 198) remains the overwhelming favorite to win the job even though COVID-19 has evened the playing field, even more, going into camp. Mordecai has thrown to Sooner receivers a lot more than Rattler has this summer. Does that make any difference? Most say that it does, but Rattler is a hard worker, and any receivers that need someone throwing to them now that they are back on campus knows they can call Rattler. Rattler has not ever gone to a workout that he didn’t like.
Just how good is Rattler? Coming out of high school, many considered him one of the best prep quarterbacks that they have ever seen. He is not all that big, but he has a cannon for an arm, and he has plenty of zip on the ball, and he has a few tricks up his sleeve, much like the reigning top QB in the NFL Patrick Mahomes.
When the pandemic hit, Rattler headed straight back to Phoenix, Arizona, and started back to work with his quarterback guru Mike Giovando of Elev8QBacademy. While he was not back in Norman, he had plenty of great talent to throw to, and he had a chance to get three more months of work in with his quarterback mentor.
“We had a great time,” said Giovando. “Pretty much all of our guys were back. We have a lot of guys that are currently playing around the country. We got after it three days a week, two hours a day, and it was a lot of fun. We had a lot of competitive guys out there, and a lot of guys that can keep you sharp, and that’s what it’s all about.”
“We really just kept working on things that are going to make you better. We didn’t change up a lot of stuff as far as what we were trying to get better at. What we do is that we really work hard at it and get perfect at it. We had a lot of fun and Spencer really put in a lot of work. He was as sharp as I’ve ever seen him by the time he left.”
Rattler worked out in Arizona during the COVID-19 break and didn’t get a chance to throw to Jadon Haselwood (6’2, 196), Theo Wease (6’3, 200), Charleston Rambo (6’1, 179), Trejan Bridges (6’1, 186) and the other Sooner receivers so was that a disadvantage for Rattler coming into this competition with Mordecai?
“I really think that it is,” said Giovando. “You see how these receivers run routes and how their movements and how they wiggle that are just a little bit different. As a quarterback, you try to get that timing and that precision with that guy, but you can pick that up when you are as good as these quarterbacks are like Spencer, it’s not going to take you long to figure that out.”
“I don’t think that killed him a lot or hurt him, but he would have loved to have been able to do that. We are fully confident that once he got back there that he’s going to be fine with them. Once he gets there, he will just figure out the timing with them, and then he will be ready to roll.”
‘Yeah, he would have loved to have that opportunity, and I think that’s what spring ball is for. Then in the summer, they want to get back out there and get on the same page as everybody. We just got a chance to work on other stuff that he would not get a chance to work on if he was not back here with us. I think it’s a win-win situation, but I think the spring ball thing is the most disappointing for him because he really wanted to prove to everybody that he’s ready to take the job and compete for it. He says whenever he gets to go back, or they put him on the field, he will be ready.”
Giovando is considered one of the best quarterback coaches in the country and is getting players all over the country traveling to Phoenix for a chance to work with the QB Guru in Arizona.
“I don’t know about that guru thing, but hey, we work hard at what we do,” said Giovando as he laughed at getting called a guru.” The first time that you see guys that are really, really special at a young age, you can tell right away. I saw Spencer when he was 11 years old, and you could see the fluidity in his motion. You could tell that there was not a whole lot of hiccups here. There were some little things that you could tweak and get better at.”
“He was going about it naturally and not like he was really trying. When I see guys that look like they are trying real hard, then I know okay this is going to be a little bit of a project to teach these guys how to really throw because he’s doing too much and it shouldn’t be that hard. Obviously, we are looking at how he throws the ball and how does it come out of his hand. Does he spin the ball the right way? I mean, there are a lot of little things that because sometimes kids throw across their body.”
“When I watch a kid throw, does he use his lower body, and how are their feet? Then we coach him, and we fix all that stuff. Then the other aspects, like what kind of kid are they, and what kind of attitude do they have? Are they arrogant, or are they confident? Are they coachable, or are they teachable? How do they interact with the other quarterbacks and the other guys around? Are they going to be able to handle maybe not always being the best in the group because we’re always going to try to bring in somebody better than you? How are they going to react? Are they going to stick around and work with these guys, or are they going to go and find another quarterback coach where they think he’s going to be the best over there?”
“Those are the things that I look for. Mentally as well, do they want to learn the game? Do they love football, because if you don’t love football then don’t play. Look at it this way it’s all those things that as a quarterback guy that I look for so I can help make them better because I know what it’s going to take to get them to that point.”
Coach Riley and other quarterback coaches often talk about how well a QB is spinning the ball and I’m often asked what does spinning the ball mean?
“Yeah, spinning the ball is the way that the ball comes off their hands,” said Giovando. “A lot of that has to do with having a great wrist. Aaron Rogers has a great wrist. He has a great snap of the wrist. That has a lot to do with how they spin it. Are they getting up on top, and are they staying behind the football with their full-body? It’s all those things that allow them to really create that spin and that velocity.”
“Wrist is the number one thing to me that creates that spin. Spencer has a great wrist. They’re always straight, and he very rarely doesn’t throw a spiral, and that all has to do with the wrist. He has a great wrist, and to me when I think about spinning the football, that’s the key. When it’s wobbling, you either moved your head, or did something with your body that caused that wobble, but you probably also had your wrist break. We call that breaking your wrist when your wrist doesn’t stay straight through the throw.”
“The best quarterbacks will get it off with the last index finger coming off the ball last. That will be the last finger that will come off the ball. Those are all the things that go into spinning the ball.”
All that saw Rattler at a young age realized that he was going to be a great QB.
“I had a buddy tell me, hey, you have to come and watch this young man,” said Giovando. “I was actually trying to support a player that was playing on the same youth organization team as Spencer’s but older ages. So, I had a pretty good instant connection with the youth team that he was playing with.”
“So, I went and watched him and wow! He was staying in the pocket and throwing it, and I was pretty impressed. I met his dad and talked to Spencer pretty much right after that game and thus started our relationship that’s what, nine years now.”
“Right away, I had to move him up to the high school guys within a year. He was 12, throwing and working out with the high school guys. I put him up there, and he was quiet at first, but we started to get to know each other, and we started developing a pretty good relationship.”
“I started telling him this is what I think is going to happen to you. The newspapers started calling me asking me about a couple of my older quarterbacks, but I told them that I had this seventh-grader that they needed to keep their eye on. I told them that he was going to break every record in Arizona, he is going to be a big-time recruit, he was going to win the Elite 11, and I think he is going to win the Heisman Trophy. I put him in the paper when he was in the seventh grade.”
“I think I’m going to be right. That is what I thought, and that’s what I said, and I tell all my kids the same stuff about what I think they can do. I believe every one of these kids out here that we got can reach the highest level. We had a few, quite a few actually, I believe it’s 21 that are either playing Division 1 or that have Power 5 offers. We had eight guys go D-1 last year out of the 2020 class, and out of Spencer’s class, I think we had five or six go Division-1. In the 21 class, we have another six going D-1.”
“So, things are going well out here, but I tell each kid what I really feel they can do. I told Spencer the entire time, and he will tell you the same thing, and he’s told me that he’s going to win the Heisman. That’s been on his brain since he was a seventh-grader, and I told him that I thought he would be the number pick someday. Those are all things that I’ve tried to plant in his brain since he was a young man, and I think we’re going to see these things come in fruition in the not too distant future.”
The Elev8QBacademy covers the Scottsdale/Phoenix area, and they take players from the whole valley, and at times he will take players for a few weeks from out of state.
“We try to work with about 120 kids a week,” said Giovando. “They range from seven years old that is the youngest to Brian Lewerke, who was Michigan State’s quarterback for the last four years who played at the same high school that Spencer did. I’m getting him ready to get a tryout with the (New England) Patriots. He’s still here, so we have NFL guys down to college guys down to young guys. I’m having a lot of fun, and actually all of us are!”
Great things are expected out of Rattler, and if he can beat out Mordecai for the job, all believe he is a perfect fit for the Lincoln Riley Oklahoma offense.
“He’s going to be able to push the ball down the field like they want to,” said Giovando. “They are going to be able to get those big explosive plays on a regular basis, and when things break down, he has that ability to create and make some great throws with his feet. He’s a great athlete and Spencer is going to be able to make some awkward throws and some off-platform throws, some jumping off one-foot throws when he needs to.”
“He’s not going to do stuff when he doesn’t need to do it. He is going to kill it in the pocket, and when he’s going to need to make an explosive play, he’s going to kill it. Spencer understands down and distance, and he understands what needs to be done to keep the chains moving.”
“I think you are going to see a guy that can make every single throw, and he’s going to run Lincoln’s offense the way that Lincoln wants to run it. It’s going to be a show, that’s what I think. I think he is going to be a 70% percent passer, and he’s going to throw for a ton of touchdowns and a ton of yards. He’s going to be able to bring you back when the game is on the line. Spencer is going to be able to bring you back and win a couple.”
“When that needs to happen, and I know you don’t want to be in that situation, but if you are then there is the one guy that I want to be pulling the trigger, and at that point then we need somebody to bring us back and it’s going to be Spencer.”
“That is what I think you are going to see out of Spencer in Norman.”
Everyone expects Rattler to win the job and after hearing from his QB GURU Giovando and actually talking to him, it’s hard to fathom Mordecai beating him out. Still, I always come back to the fact that Coach Riley went out to Waco and spent almost two days scouting Mordecai himself before offering him and Mordecai committing a day later.
OU has had a wealth of riches at the quarterback position since Coach Riley has been in Norman, and this will be the first year that he will be working with two quarterbacks who have no real playing time under their belts going into the season. Whoever wins the job, Coach Riley will have a couple of years at least to work with that quarterback, and then there will be another five-star top-ranked quarterback waiting in the wings in Caleb Williams. It’s good to be Lincoln Riley right now in college football.
Taking Another Look at the DL Class
– Super K
So far the Sooners have the following defensive front guys in the boat…
– JUCO DT, Isaiah Coe
– DL Ethan Downs
– DE/OLB Clayton Smith
– DL Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge
I have been told that in the case of Clayton Smith, if the Sooners were to land a guy like Jeremiah Williams, they’d look at creating a number for Jeremiah but assuming that either Williams or Smith could play some additional LB positions.
But where the numbers get interesting are the additional DL spots. I’m told that they will hold a spot for JT Tuimoloau.
Also, it does sound like they received a commitment from an additional DL (not Abiara). I don’t know where that puts things with Abiara but I’m starting to think the Sooners may have moved on after taking this most recent silent commit (was a better take in my opinion).
The question then is whether they will have spot for Marcus Burris. We are still trying to find that out. I know he was someone the Sooners were really high on and you can’t really turn down high level DL. But I haven’t heard his name mentioned much lately. So, again we are still checking on that.
The Latest | Kendal Daniels
– Charlie S
Recently, Sooners 2021 in-state defensive target Kendal Daniels tweeted out his intentions to announce his commitment on August 1st.
Things have been pretty quiet on the Daniels front of late, but with the state of recruiting during COVID and the lack of the ability to take visits, we had been speculating that he would likely make a commitment this summer.
Here is where things get interesting though…
While most people have felt this was a slam dunk for OU, following his tweet, Super K, James, and I did some investigating and here is what we came up with:
*** It sounds like Daniels and OU have not been in consistent communication. Apparently, the Sooners have been trying for over a month to get him on a zoom call and it has not materialized to this point.
*** We are told Kendal has been on zoom meetings with schools such as LSU and Texas A&M
*** Sounds like Oklahoma was not aware of his intentions to make a commitment until he tweeted it out
*** Sources say the Sooners were in touch with him yesterday following the tweet and they are planning on speaking with him again later this week
*** We have gathered that one of the concerns Daniels has with OU is where he fits in on the defense…which could have been addressed already with improved communication.
So while we are not saying Oklahoma is out of anything here, we cannot say they are the clear front runner either at this point.
Quick Hitter | Justin Harrington
– Charlie S
The Sooners ’20 Deep’ class may finally be nearing 100 percent completion as there is a new name in the OU student database…
Justin Harrington.
Harrington appears to now be enrolled at OU despite numerous setbacks on the road to Norman.
Good way to start the weekend for all parties.
Covid Testing Results | From July 15th
– Charlie S
NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma football team has returned to campus as its student-athletes began voluntary workouts Wednesday, July 1. Following is data related to coronavirus testing of players and football staff.
FROM JULY 15, 2020
Total football players tested: 98
Total positive test results: 0
Active cases among players: 0
Recoveries among players: 16
Total number of staff tested: 30
Total positive test results among staff: 0
Active cases among staff: 0
Recoveries among staff: 2
