Falcons QB carousel: Taylor Heinicke named starter for rest of season, Desmond Ridder benched again

The Atlanta Falcons have had a roller-coaster season, and nowhere has that been more true than the handling of the team’s quarterback situation. 

Heading into a crucial stretch run, head coach Arthur Smith told reporters on Wednesday the plan going forward is to have Taylor Heinicke start for the rest of the season. This decision marks the third time this year the Falcons have made a change at quarterback and sent Desmond Ridder to the bench. 

“Obviously, Des came back a few weeks ago and the plan was to let him finish out the season,” Smith said. “That’s what the plan was, but you’ve got to be able to adapt. Same thing [with this situation]. I don’t want to keep switching week-to-week or half-to-half. That’s not what we want to do. Right now, we feel, where we’re at, that Taylor gives us our best chance.”  

This offseason, the Falcons declined to look into players like Lamar Jackson (who was a free agent on the franchise tag), instead insisting that 2022 third-round pick Ridder was their guy. During the early portion of the season, Ridder struggled, completing 65.4% of his passes at an average of 7.1 yards per attempt, with just six touchdowns against six interceptions through the first eight games of the year. The Falcons ended that stretch with a 4-4 record, and Ridder was benched for the second half of the last of those games.

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/falcons-qb-carousel-taylor-heinicke-named-starter-for-rest-of-season-desmond-ridder-benched-again/

Author : Jared Dubin

Publish date : 2023-12-20 18:49:16

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