With Falcons on outside looking in, why didn’t they do more at QB?

Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

The easy read on the Falcons today is the same as it looked last summer: a promising, well-rounded team with a question mark at quarterback.

Atlanta is 7-8, having just matched its win total from each of the past two seasons, but the Falcons are a game back in the NFC South and need help to avoid extending their playoff drought to six straight years.

So it’s fair to ask a question that many people asked before the season began: Why were the Falcons content to go with Desmond Ridder as their starter?

Atlanta has a defense that ranks in the top 10 in points allowed and yards allowed. Only five NFL teams can boast that this season, and the other four (Ravens, Cowboys, Bills, Chiefs) are all headed to the playoffs, with the help of four quarterbacks all making at least $40 million a year.

Then there’s the Falcons, who made a firm commitment to Ridder, despite him playing only four games as a rookie, needing until December to push Marcus Mariota off the field. Ridder has 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this year, twice losing his job to Taylor Heinicke. Of the 24 NFL quarterbacks to throw at least 350 passes, only the Jets’ Zach Wilson has fewer touchdowns, and Ridder is tied for the eighth-most interceptions.

Atlanta made sure Ridder was well-armed, equipping its offense with three straight top-10 draft picks in running back Bijan Robinson, receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts. Those three have combined for 12 total touchdowns. Atlanta paid well to make sure its offensive line returned intact from last season, but that wasn’t enough to help Ridder make this a playoff team.

Why didn’t the Falcons aim for more? They had ample salary-cap space last offseason, enough to allow for them to make an ambitious push for the best quarterbacks available. They’d tried and missed a year earlier on Deshaun Watson, and that, of course, is arguably a blessing in disguise, for as little as he’s…

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Publish date : 2023-12-28 21:55:27

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