The Falcons are underneath a storm cloud of criticism following an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the 1-12 Panthers that has effectively dashed their postseason hopes.
The loss shouldn’t be directly attributed to one person, but it’s hard not to point to Desmond Ridder‘s fourth quarter red zone interception that eventually led to a go-ahead Carolina field goal.
Arthur Smith did make the decision to bench Ridder for the second time this season, so he clearly feels the third-round pick is somewhat culpable. The loss also brought on questions regarding his own job security, which Arthur Blank addressed.
When asked about the future of Arthur Smith, Blank said, “We’re gonna play these last three games; we play ’em to win ’em. And we’ll let the season play out and go from there. Obviously this has not been the kind of year we expected.”
It seems Smith is coaching for his job over these next three weeks, which is warranted. To this point, it’s been a failure of a season, but for as many people and media pundits making calls for Arthur Smith’s job, I see nobody talking about Terry Fontenot’s culpability in all of this.
I don’t know, and none of your favorite Falcons personalities know either, what the process is like behind the scenes when it comes to building a roster. I imagine it’s a collaborative effort that values Fontenot’s, Smith’s, Kyle Smith’s, Dave Ragone‘s, etc. opinions.
Obviously, some voices are going to weigh heavier than others, but to say a club’s GM is not at fault for the state of the franchise is blind ignorance. One could argue that Smith is more at fault, which is a perfectly fine argument to make. However, Fontenot isn’t free of blame.
For example, SportsTalkATL’s friend over at Fox 5 Miles Garrett sat down with Atlanta’s GM and asked which player stood out to him the most in the scouting process, and Fontenot said it was Desmond Ridder.
At the NFL Combine this year I asked Terry Fontenot which player stood out to him the most in the scouting process.
He told me in February, it was Desmond Ridder pic.twitter.com/z6Z9b5ThmK
— Miles Garrett (@MilesGarrettTV) December 19, 2023
Arthur Smith decided to hitch his wagon to Desmond Ridder, and that’s pretty damning evidence that his quarterback evaluations aren’t credible. He’s lost the benefit of the doubt in that area, but Fontenot also signed off on Ridder at the very least.
That’s not to say that Smith didn’t come to Fontenot with an idea of the kind of player his system needed, and Fontenot just acted on his coach’s wishes because that seems possible if not likely, but the Falcons GM shouldn’t get off scot-free.
Terry Fontenot has done a lot of good during his time in Atlanta. His ability to identify talent from a pro personnel perspective is elite. Most of his acquisitions on that side of things have worked out, but the drafts have been less than stellar, and Mike Jones of The Athletic believes Fontenot and his front office have hurt their team the worst in the league.
GM Terry Fontenot has spent draft picks on three talented offensive players in Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Bijan Robinson in each of the last three offseasons. Yet the Falcons still have an anemic offense.
We can play the hindsight is 20/20 game with Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson all day. The Falcons could’ve drafted an elite player at a premium position like Micah Parsons, Pat Surtain II, Penei Sewell, etc. over Pitts or Jalen Carter instead of Robinson; however, that’s not a productive way to critique a GM.
Moreover, Jones is missing an important factor in Atlanta’s anemic offense, despite the three top 10 picks being skill position players — Terry Fontenot doesn’t call the offense. That shortcoming should be attributed to Arthur Smith. The biggest issue I have with Fontenot is the Falcons’ process at quarterback.
One big problem: Fontenot and coach Arthur Smith believed second-year pro Desmond Ridder was the answer at quarterback this season, and that Taylor Heinicke was a serviceable-enough backup. Yet Ridder has struggled throughout the season, throwing 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while sporting a lowly passer rating of 82.2 (25th in the NFL). He was just benched for the second time this season.
Again, the state of the Falcons isn’t all on Terry Fontenot; in fact, I do think that he’s less at fault than Arthur Smith, but he’s not devoid of any blame. Jones continues his criticism of Atlanta’s GM and front office in a way I just can’t get behind.
The Falcons also overpaid for a middle-of-the-road interior lineman like David Onyemata when they needed to invest in edge rusher. Then Atlanta lost out on Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears at the trade deadline. Sunday, the Falcons lost 9-7 to the Panthers, who entered the game with just one win. That dropped Atlanta to 6-8 and dramatically decreased its chances of making the playoffs.
David Onyemata was one of the most impactful interior defenders before going down with an injury. I would even argue he was more effective than Grady Jarrett. I vehemently disagree with Mike Jones‘ assessment that Fontenot has hurt Atlanta.
The state of the Falcons isn’t on a single person, but the NFL is a results-oriented business, and that typically falls at the feet of the head coach. In my assessment, Desmond Ridder deserves most of the blame; Arthur Smith deserves a share of it, but Terry Fontenot does as well.
Hell, I think if you asked Fontenot, he’d even shoulder some of the club’s failures.
—
Photographer: Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.