Texas Football: 3 reasons Sam Ehlinger is better than Spencer Rattler

1) Why Texas football QB Sam Ehlinger is better than Spencer Rattler: Smarter using his dual-threat ability

While this is a skill that is likely to develop over time for Rattler, in the current season Ehlinger seems to be smarter and more efficient when he needs to escape the pocket and use his legs as a weapon. The former five-star recruit Rattler is definitely very agile and elusive, but doesn’t seem to have the timing aspect of evading the pocket and tucking and running quite yet.

On the season to date, Ehlinger is averaging just shy of 4.5 yards per carry, with more than 80 total rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Most of his production on the ground came in the win over Texas Tech. But Ehlinger really showed off his ability to his dual-threat ability in the most important of situations. He had just shy of 70 rushing yards and that one rushing score in the win over Tech.

And while Rattler has tried rushing the ball a few times this season, it hasn’t gone well at all for him. He has -4 rushing yards on 12 attempts through two games this year. For his career in total, Rattler has 19 rushing yards on 15 attempts, and no touchdowns.

That shows that Ehlinger is much more proven in terms of using his legs as a weapon. He averaged more than four yards per carry last season for the first time. For his career to date, he’s registered more than 1,600 rushing yards and 26 scores on the ground.

Rattler should get a better grip on when to evade the pocket and when to stand in and make the proper throws. But that’s just a certain level of awareness that is developed over time. Ehlinger is now in his fourth year working on that part of his game. But he still holds the sizable edge in this debate.