The Falcons find themselves without a franchise quarterback.
Though Arthur Smith’s job may be in question, Desmond Ridder’s isn’t; he won’t be the starter in 2023 following his second benching of the season due to an inexcusable red zone interception against the Panthers that resulted in a Carolina drive that set up a game-winning field goal
It was the sixth red zone turnover of the season for Ridder, which is the most in the NFL. He rarely took care of the ball and never developed that area of his game. The Falcons consistently shot themselves in the foot and a lot of the time it was Ridder doing so in critical moments of the game.
Through three seasons, Atlanta is no closer to finding a franchise quarterback. They’ve invested virtually nothing (draft capital/money) into the position. All it’s been is a measly third-round pick and a couple of backup-caliber deals for Marcus Mariota and Taylor Heinicke.
However, that could be seen as a good thing, as Albert Breer points out.
Their approach was to try to avoid being the team that goes all in on a quarterback that they, well, weren’t all in on, with the idea being all that really does is make you the 45-win NBA team that’s stuck in the good-not-great category. I mostly agree, and would say it’s proved in the fact that the Buccaneers are much better off with Baker Mayfield at $10 million than the Saints are with Derek Carr, the Raiders are with Jimmy Garoppolo or even the Giants are with Daniel Jones right now (with all those players a few ticks under the top of the market).
Instead of giving Derek Carr $150 million or trading a haul of draft picks and guaranteeing $240 million to Deshuan Watson, the Falcons have sat back and waited, instead of going all-in on a guy they weren’t sold on.
So Atlanta tried to tread water with Matt Ryan in Year 1, Marcus Mariota in Year 2, and Desmond Ridder in Year 3, as it built the rest of the roster up—with the benefit being a better situation for the quarterback when the team finds that player, and the risk being the bottom falling out completely at the most important position on the field.
And that risk became reality, and the Falcons are 6–8.
But that doesn’t mean what they did conceptually was wrong, nor does it mean that the plan couldn’t still work—if Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot can find their guy in 2024.
As Breer points out, I think the Falcons had the right plan conceptually. It just hasn’t worked. Now, that plan will be forced into action this offseason, regardless of the situation. It doesn’t matter who is the head coach or the pool of quarterback options, the Falcons will be in the market for a new signal caller this offseason.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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