Late Monday night, it was announced that a starting quarterback in the SEC — who also retains an extra year of eligibility — accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl, which will take place at the end of January and the beginning of February in Mobile, Ala.
South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler has officially accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
🤙 OFFICIAL! QB Spencer Rattler @SpencerRattler from @GamecockFB has accepted his invitation to the 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl #SpursUp 🤙 #TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️@JimNagy_SB @PaniniAmerica #RatedRookie pic.twitter.com/entQw8l8y0
— Reese's Senior Bowl (@seniorbowl) November 21, 2023
Ahead of the team’s matchup against Clemson this weekend, Rattler met with the local media on Tuesday and was asked about potentially declaring for the NFL Draft in wake of his accepting an invite to the post-season college football All-Star game.
Rattler didn’t exactly give a definitive answer about his status.
“I have another year,” he said, via The State Newspaper’s Jordan Kaye. “Maybe I could come back.”
It should be noted that just because Rattler has accepted an invite to the Senior Bowl, that doesn’t mean he can’t return to school. Speaking of Clemson, last season saw defensive tackle Tyler Davis return to school, as Kaye mentioned, even after accepting an invite to the All-Star game.
“This will be an important week for Spencer Rattler,” The Athletic’s NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler wrote on Twitter/X. “There are some NFL scouts who are really optimistic about him at the next level.”
With a win over Clemson, Rattler has a chance to help the Gamecocks reach bowl eligibility in his second season as the starting quarterback. In 11 games this season, Rattler has completed 259-of-367 attempts (70.6 percent) for 3,074 yards with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
It remains to be seen if this Saturday’s game against South Carolina’s bitter rivals will be his final regular season game as a college football player.
