Senior Bowl 2024: USC's Spencer Rattler opens scoring with TD pass to Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint

Spencer Rattler’s strong week of practices at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama has continued into the game itself.

Four minutes into the first quarter of the Senior Bowl, the former South Carolina quarterback tossed a 29-yard touchdown to former Georgia wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint in the back of the end zone on a high-arching pass to give his team a 7-0 lead.

The touchdown was an exclamation point on what was a strong first half for Rattler, who completed all four of his passes for 65 yards.

With that production, Rattler was named the game's MVP.

In two seasons with the Gamecocks, Rattler threw for 6,212 yards, 37 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. Despite having remaining eligibility, he announced his intention to declare for the NFL Draft after the end of the 2023 regular season.

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The former No. 1 quarterback in the 2019 recruiting class, who began his career at Oklahoma before transferring to South Carolina after the 2021 season, had impressed in practices during the week.

Rattler was named the top quarterback on the American team by a vote of his defensive teammates at an award ceremony on Friday. NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic wrote that Rattler showed off “outstanding arm talent” while delivering “well-timed, tight spirals to all levels of the field.”

In an interview with the Pro Football Focus NFL show, Senior Bowl executive director praised Rattler.

“I think right now, just based off you know, talking to guys around the league, the league right now is higher on Spencer Rattler than it seems like the media is,” Nagy said. “You don't see Spencer Rattler's name out there a lot. I know a lot of teams have starter-level grades on Spencer Rattler. Just the maturity, the maturation both on and off the field. With Spencer talking to Shane Beamer and the guys that are Columbia. I think he's going to do a really good job in the interview process just based off my interactions with him so far. Let's not forget him. This guy can really throw it, too.”

Rattler is not mocked as a first-round quarterback in the early stages of the draft process. He is hoping to change that perception as it continues.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina's Spencer Rattler tosses 29-yard TD in Senior Bowl