If the drumbeat of expectations couldn’t get any louder, the preseason awards keep coming in for Oklahoma Sooners’ quarterback Spencer Rattler. On Thursday, he was named CBS Sports/247Sports preseason player of the year for 2021.
In the release, college football analyst Dennis Dodd had this to say about Rattler:
As the 2021 CBS Sports / 247Sports Preseason Player of the Year, (Spencer Rattler) is also the leader of perhaps Lincoln Riley’s best team at Oklahoma. The Sooners enter the year ranked No. 2 in the Preseason AP Top 25, and Riley received honors of his own Wednesday when he was named 2021 CBS Sports / 247Sports Preseason Coach of the Year.
Rattler, the Heisman Trophy frontrunner, is entering his third season with the program. Though 2020 started out a bit rough for Rattler, he bounced back in a tremendous way, showing much more discipline with the football after some sloppy play in the first half against Texas.
Despite those early season losses and turnovers, Rattler displayed all of the tools that had everyone excited about his arrival to Norman. His arm strength, quick release, poise in the pocket, and deep ball accuracy allowed Spencer Rattler to put up some really good numbers in his first year as a starter, leading one of the best offenses in the country.
Now in his second season as the starter and coming off of a full offseason of workouts, Rattler is poised to build off of fantastic 2020 with the Sooners. If he and the Oklahoma Sooners can take care business on the field the awards will take care of themselves.