The possibilities are plentiful as the Falcons begin the preliminary stages of finding a new quarterback. Currently, the front office and coaching staff are assessing the current roster, which includes Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke.
“Whether it’s a pocket guy, whether it’s a guy that can move around a little bit, we’re just looking for the best guy that we can do,” new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. “Certainly know the guys that are here, we’re evaluating everybody, so Taylor [Heinicke] and Desmond [Ridder], we’re looking at those guys.
I expect the club to move on from the veteran and save $7 million against the cap this year. The jury is out on the former third-round pick, though.
“All options are on the table,” Robinson added.
The Falcons new offensive coordinator seems to be PR-trained because all that read to me is coach speak. There’s no way Raheem Morris, Zac Robinson, and Terry Fontenot want to keep their jobs if they trot either Heinicke or Ridder out there for the Falcons season opener.
The club’s owner was clear in his feelings about the current state of the quarterback position in Atlanta.
“It’s very clear to everybody — all of our fans, all of you, anybody throughout the NFL — is that this is a position that we need to figure out how we’re going to get better in 2024 and beyond that as well, whether that be trades, free agency, the draft, whatever it may be,” Blank said.
It’s not hyperbolic to say it would be the worst-case scenario for fans to watch that come to fruition, which is exactly what Bleacher Report believes to be true.
WORST CASE: The Status Quo
This is another one that feels implausible, assuming that Morris watched any Falcons games last year. But there’s at least a possibility that the depth chart at quarterback could look largely the same in Atlanta in 2024 as it did in 2023.
Depending on how things shake out with the top quarterbacks in 2024, it’s possible that Atlanta will go another direction with their first pick—the team needs help on the edge defensively in the worst way imaginable. This isn’t to say that Atlanta might not take a Day 2 or Day 3 quarterback, but counting on those picks to be immediate contributors is wishful thinking at best.
If the free agent pool dries up and/or the new coaching staff in Atlanta convinces itself that Ridder is fixable, it could be a quieter offseason at the position in Atlanta than many think.
That would not be good.
The Falcons could not expect to be taken seriously if they ended up in the same place as they were at the start of the 2023 campaign. It’d be an unmitigated disaster. Bleacher Report absolutely nailed this one, which is ironic because they absolutely butchered the Falcons best case scenario for the quarterback position — signing Ryan Tannehill in free agency.
Honestly, I don’t know which is worse — signing Tannehill or rolling with the current in-house options. Most would say Ridder and Heinicke, but I’m not so sure. If the Falcons thought Tannehill was a viable option, I’d lose a whole lot of faith in their ability to make decisions.
Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.
—
Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.