Well, it was bound to happen and it happened yesterday. The Atlanta Falcons and Head Coach Arthur Smith named the 74th overall pick in last years NFL draft, Desmond Ridder, as the starting quarterback against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans on Dec. 18.
The Falcons drafted Ridder in hopes that he would take over as the Franchise quarterback as Quarterback Matt Ryan is now playing for the Indianapolis Colts. Ridder was a four year starter for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and led his team into the College Football Playoffs in 2021 where they lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide, their only loss of the season last year as they finished #4 in the country with a 13-1 overall record, 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference.
Ridder ended his college career throwing for 10, 239 yards with 87 passing touchdowns. He had 2,180 rushing yards and added 28 rushing touchdowns.
Falcons Head Coach Authur Smith likes mobile quarterbacks that can throw and run his style of offense, which is an old school run first to set up play action type of offense.
The 2022 season began with Marcus Mariota starting as QB1. Mariota fits the mold that Smith wants as his quarterback. Mariota drafted and played for Smith at the Tennessee Titans before getting benched. And after 13 games as the starter for the Falcons, the ceiling was leveled and not going to get any better for Mariota and the offense. Mariota had not thrown more than 150 yards in any of the previous 13 games so far, and a move needed to be made. And with this move, the Falcons not only benched Mariota, but placed him on the IR with an apparent knee issue, which will end his 2022 season. Not sure Mariota is really injured or not, but more than likely he will not step back on the Mercedes Benz Stadium field as a Falcon. The Falcons are coming off a bye last Sunday and travel to New Orleans this Sunday.
The Falcons need to see what they have in Ridder, to see if he is going to be their future at quarterback or if they need to draft a quarterback in next year’s draft or get one through trade or free agency.
Nothing matters unless we go down to New Orleans and get a win.
Falcons Head Coach Arthur Smith
The Falcons come into this week with a record of 5-8 only one game back of 6-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the awful NFC South Division that doesn’t have a team with a winning record. The Falcons have four games remaining in the regular season.
Time will tell if this move will be worth it or not. But it was time to do something because the team had lost two straight games and were spiraling downward and something needed to be done.
Head Coach Arthur Smith Speaks about the Next Four Games
Next Game
Atlanta Falcons (5-8) travel to New Orleans to take on their most heated rival, The New Orleans Saints (4-9). Kickoff set for 1:00PM EST from the SuperDome.
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