Dennis Allen left the door open for a quarterback battle this summer.
During a Thursday interview on The Rich Eisen Show, the New Orleans Saints head coach provided an open-ended assessment of what he’d like to see from rookie Spencer Rattler.
“I think the plan is that he comes in and really basically competes, and we’ll let the cards kind of play out as they do,” Allen told Eisen, via On3.
It’s unclear what spot Allen would like to see Rattler compete for in training camp. Rattler probably has to focus on beating out 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Haener for the backup gig before anyone can think about him pushing Derek Carr for the starting job.
Allen said he was “really excited” when Rattler fell to their No. 150 overall pick. He believes the former five-star recruit lasted too long after six teams drafted a quarterback in the first 12 picks.
“From where we had him graded on our board, we felt like this player was probably more of a second or third-round talent,” Allen said. “And the fact that he was still sitting there in the fifth round, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that there were six quarterbacks already taken in this draft.”
Allen appreciated the early quarterback run, which allowed New Orleans to snag offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga with the No. 14 pick. While they weren’t targeting a signal-caller with that choice, Allen was thrilled to land a “tremendous talent” much later.
“It’s just about getting him in here, teaching him the things that we want him to know and being able to execute the things that we want him to be able to execute,” Allen said of Rattler.