IRVINE, Calif. — Andrew Janocko was a little disappointed.
The New Orleans Saints quarterback coach believed he had the perfect imagery to describe Thursday’s practice approach. He was excited to set the tone for a practice heavy on situational work, challenging his quarterbacks in red-zone and two-minute scenarios before they hit the preseason field days later.
So Janocko told 2014 second-rounder Derek Carr, 2023 fourth-rounder Jake Haener and 2024 fifth-rounder Spencer Rattler that this was going to be their “Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man look.”
“A ‘Ghostbusters’ reference that neither Spencer nor Jake got when I said it today because they have not seen the original ‘Ghostbusters,’” Janocko told Yahoo Sports before practice. “We had to watch the clip of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man showing up to try and smash New York City.”
Janocko’s idea was sound: Turn the day’s attitude into a picture in his quarterbacks’ minds just as they routinely turn playbook concepts into digestible visualization.
But its failure to initially resonate was fitting for the 25- and 23-year-old prospects the Saints are betting on at quarterback. Because neither Haener nor Rattler represent the past. For New Orleans, they do not even primarily represent the present.
Instead, as each fights for second on the depth chart behind Carr, Saints coaches and executives ask themselves: Can either player be their franchise’s future?
Just three teams selected a quarterback in each of the last two NFL drafts. The Minnesota Vikings drafted Jaren Hall in the 2023 fifth round before J.J. McCarthy this year in the first, creating a clear pecking order. The Green Bay Packers selected Sean Clifford in the fifth last year and Michael Pratt in the seventh this past spring, a chance to develop amid starter Jordan Love’s transition to face of the franchise.
Then there’s New Orleans, who now fronts two developmental prospects behind a clearly established but aging quarterback entering Year 11.
What could unfold?
“We’re dogging it out for that ‘two’ spot, right?” Haener told Yahoo Sports. “Both of us really want it bad. We both really want to have that opportunity. I don’t like to try to predict the future, but Derek’s getting older.”
“That two spot … it gives you an upward track on having the opportunity one day to potentially have that opportunity to be the starter.”
Why did Saints draft quarterbacks in consecutive years?
Three possible outcomes await Haener and Rattler.
They could flame out, an outcome that befalls quarterbacks each year no matter how hard they work to avoid it.
They could establish themselves as quality backups, the Saints determining either player (or both) is solid enough to keep the team afloat in the case of a starter injury. A team may not win because of the quarterback, but they could win with the quarterback, the reasoning goes.
Then there’s the chance that Haener and/or Rattler proves himself capable of starting. It would be fair to qualify that outcome as exceeding expectations.
NFL executives tend to consider fourth and fifth-round quarterback selections as projects whom they hope become starting-caliber but expect to be serviceable backups. They’re realistic about the floor that each player’s athleticism and resumé reflect, while hoping that an excellent coaching staff and dose of luck can shift that fortune.
“You can spend a late-round pick on a quarterback every year, just rolling the dice,” one executive told Yahoo Sports. “You’re not looking at any of those guys before they [develop] and saying, ‘This guy’s going to be the future.’
“If you had that much conviction that they were going to be a future star, they wouldn’t be available.”
By Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man standards, Haener and Rattler have each stated their case in practices of late.
Each has found success in two-minute drives. When the defense dropped three deep in the end zone Thursday, Haener went through his progressions and saw his initial target covered by the backside flat player. So Haener extended the play, rolling to his right as he saw receiver Samson Nacua running a deep dagger route. Predicting Nacua’s angle, Haener muscled a ball into the window for Nacua to catch it and score.
Just three days earlier, Rattler had worked his own two-minute magic when he was pressured in the pocket and faded right. His first and second reads weren’t available, so he moved quickly to his third. Mason Tipton had helped clear the way for fellow receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. to find space on a deep slant. Touchdown, offense.
The result of the plays were the same. The path there, including the quarterback’s approach, differed. Saints coaches and executives watched each and wondered: Which body of work will better ensure success?
When the Saints drafted Haener 127th overall out of Fresno State, they saw a high-energy player who read defenses well to make strong decisions as he grew over his one year at Washington and then three with the Bulldogs.
Haener threw 53 touchdowns to 12 interceptions in his final two seasons at Fresno State. He has continued to put a premium on ball security in New Orleans, both as he navigated Pete Carmichael’s offensive system last year and new coordinator Klint Kubiak’s this.
Haener believes in his ability to start in this league, but understood when the Saints drafted Rattler that zero games’ experience in 2023, paired with a six-game suspension for violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, would not guarantee a roster spot.
“I would have been surprised if they drafted a guy in the first two to three rounds, but you draft a guy in the fifth round to compete with a fourth-round pick, I feel like that’s pretty logical,” Haener said. “You get rid of [former backup Jameis Winston] and have a young guy in Year 1 going into Year 2 who hasn’t done anything. You want to see: Hey, can this guy handle it or can this new guy come in and be better?
“It’s a competition league and just gonna make me better in the long run.”
Rattler arrives after three seasons at Oklahoma and two at South Carolina. Saints brass expected he could go as soon as the third round of the draft and thus jumped at the value they believed he offered in the fifth.
The organization views Rattler’s physical tools as more promising than those of Haener, Rattler’s arm talent impressing them more than his athleticism. As Rattler practices, the Saints ask themselves: Is he leveraging that arm talent to make opportune decisions, or is he allowing overconfidence to pave the way to mistakes?
The team that dabbled in Winston’s high-risk, high-reward proposition brings in Rattler, whose resumé spans from a 28-to-7 touchdown-to-interception year at Oklahoma in 2020 to a 19-to-8 season last fall at South Carolina.
What has he been emphasizing this offseason?
“Footwork-wise, false steps, little punch steps in your drop, not getting too much depth, maintaining that circle in the pocket, not hitching too much,” Rattler said. “Little minute things that can add up to negative plays.
“You’ve got to control that and avoid that.”
How soon could Haener or Rattler take the reins?
At this stage, it’s fair to say Rattler has the upper hand toward eventually starting.
That doesn’t mean he has the upper hand competing for the second-string role in 2024.
And plenty could change as they compete in preseason games and a joint practice against the San Francisco 49ers next week.
The Saints’ initial preseason depth chart lists Haener as second-team quarterback and Rattler as third.
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New Orleans hopes its quarterback questions will be limited to the backup position this year. Carr is entering Year 2 of his four-year, $150 million deal, and played better than the club’s 9-8 record reflected.
The veteran’s 97.7 passer rating ranked 10th in the league, Carr efficient with a 68.4% completion rate for 3,878 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Another season in that vein, and Carr would be the favorite for Saints starter in 2025.
If injury or performance dictates otherwise, the Saints will have to decide whether to release Carr for a dead cap hit of $50.1 million before June 1 or $21.5 million afterward.
If Carr plays well but Haener or Rattler also convinces New Orleans that the youth movement is ready to take over, the Saints could in theory trade Carr and reduce their dead cap hit to $40.1 million before June or $11.5 million after.
One step at a time.
But Rattler and Haener understand the stakes.
“It starts with Derek,” Rattler said. “I push him, he pushes me and Jake as well. Just love being out here competing with our guys.”
Haener agrees, aware after a no-game rookie year that he can’t predict when his opportunity will come.
“You can’t say. ‘Oh I’m only in Year 1, Year 2’ [because] that might be your only chance you get in that organization, or in the league period,” Haener said. “At the end of the day, I just want to be prepared – and go cut it loose.”
