Ready for the moment. It’s the phrase Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley used repeatedly when describing then-redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler in the 2020 season.

Despite not having a spring, despite all the hiccups COVID-19 brought to football and to life, the expectations for Rattler never lessened.

Everybody understood how strange the situation was, but nobody was going to use that as an excuse if Rattler wasn’t the five-star quarterback everybody believed he should be.

Rattler did the best he could. After an initial 1-2 start, the Sooners bounced back and won their sixth consecutive Big 12 championship and walloped Florida 55-20 in the Cotton Bowl.

He finished the season completing 214 of 317 passes for 3,031 yards with 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for six touchdowns.

Ready for the moment in 2021, and maybe, if you’ll allow yourself, ready for that moment in 2022 and the NFL Draft.

The Sooners had five players selected over the weekend in the NFL Draft, marking the 14th straight year OU has had at least four players selected during the three-day event.

That streak should not be in jeopardy whatsoever in 2022. A strong defensive flavor in guys like Perrion Winfrey, Nik Bonitto and Isaiah Thomas, to name a few, but all eyes and all Draft experts are already looking at Rattler as perhaps the No. 1 overall pick or No. 1 quarterback to be involved in next spring’s festivities.

Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, could Rattler join that exclusive group in just a year’s time?

“You’re naming guys that were obviously very successful also,” said assistant coach Cale Gundy during spring practice. “You’re naming guys that were Heisman Trophy quarterbacks, guys that won a lot of championships, competed at a high level, set a lot of records. We definitely feel like Spencer is on that trajectory to head in that direction.”

Rattler was already being anointed as the Heir Apparent or the Golden Child even as just a sophomore in high school.

He knew he wasn’t going to be the guy to get the shot right from the jump with Jalen Hurts coming in, but it never changed Rattler. Or at least, not in a negative way. It was noticed by his teammates.

“When he came in, he just had the right mindset,” linebacker Caleb Kelly said. “It was different because everybody came in and was like, ‘OK, you’re going to sit out one year and play.’ We’re bringing you in and you’re going to lead us to a natty eventually. It could be this year, next year or whatever.

“I think he came in with the right mindset. It was powerful when you would see him walk through. He never pouted even when he wasn’t playing. He never got in his feelings, left early, wasn’t there, he would still speak up, be a leader vocally.

“As a young guy, I know that that’s hard. As a quarterback, it’s expected a lot of the time, but when somebody’s playing in front of you, it’s hard. I think I have a lot of respect for him because of that.”

Spring, strangely enough, marked the first (and last?) set of practices for Rattler in spring. He wasn’t a mid-year enrollee and COVID halted last year. So it was the first time in a long time where he could work on things in a non-game setting.

What he worked on more than anything, though, had nothing to do with film, but another aspect that could guarantee his name is called incredibly early next April.

“Personally, I would think leadership was the biggest growth spurt for me,” Rattler said. “Just being able to go through that first spring with all my guys and go through every day meetings and walkthroughs and practices, just being able to be a vocal leader in there and kinda set the tone for the offense. I think that's the biggest part of my game where I grew.”

Early word has the debate being between Rattler and North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell and Oregon defensive lineman Kayvon Thibodeaux has been mentioned some, too.

If Rattler has the type of season he believes he can and that all OU fans want him to have, he could be hoisting another Heisman Trophy. He could be leading the Sooners on the chase for their eighth national championship. And he could be hearing those magic words, “with the first pick… Spencer Rattler, quarterback, University of Oklahoma.”

“He has to be every bit as good in the meeting room, and spend all that time in the meeting room, as he does out on the football field,” Gundy said. “When you’re the quarterback and you’re going to lead this team, you’re going to be a captain, you’re voted a captain, you’re going to be a captain already.

“We haven’t voted captains. I should not have said that. I mean, you guys know what I mean. He’s going to be one of the leaders of this team because he’s a quarterback at the University of Oklahoma. There’s great responsibilities there. As a young guy, I can see those things, I can see some of the change in him from last fall to this spring where he’s trying to step up and take more responsibility.”

Rattler has been ready for the moment. In 2020, heading into 2021 and just maybe as that first pick in the NFL Draft next April.