The Falcons introduced (or reintroduced) Raheem Morris on Monday, and there was a wide variety of topics covered as the new head coach sat next to Terry Fontenot.
Atlanta’s GM was not present for the press conference after Arthur Smith’s firing. Arthur Blank and Rich McKay shrugged it off, but the optics didn’t look great. Fontenot did say he was leading the search for the next head coach and clarified the power structure of the organization; however, I’m still skeptical.
I’ll give the new regime the benefit of the doubt, but the same guy still owns the team. At most, we should be cautiously optimistic. What we don’t have to be heedful of is the Falcons quarterback situation.
During a sit down with our friend over at Fox 5 D.J. Shockley, Terry Fontenot signaled the end of the Desmond Ridder experiment. The Falcons will be looking to adding a signal caller through trade, free agency, or the draft.
VIDEO: "We appreciate Des and Taylor, they went out there and did their absolute best…we didn't win enough games so we know we need to improve in a lot of areas."
Our @DjShockley3 sat down one on one with GM Terry Fontenot about the #Falcons plans to address QB this offseason pic.twitter.com/AAka6dsXub
— Miles Garrett (@MilesGarrettTV) February 5, 2024
As I blogged about over the weekend, Desmond Ridder cannot be the Falcons starter in 2024, barring injury.
Some Falcons fans speculated that Zac Robinson could turn lemons into lemonade. The former Rams quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator was the hottest offensive coordinator candidate of the hiring cycle, but he’s no miracle worker.
Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, and every offensive guru the game has to offer couldn’t have overcome Ridder’s play in 2023. Those Falcons fans put more of the blame on Arthur Smith than Ridder. That’s just not fair to Smith.
Arthur Smith is a proven commodity as a play caller. No, it didn’t work out in Atlanta, but it did in Tennessee when he was the Titans offensive coordinator as he resurrected Ryan Tannehill‘s career. On the flip side, the only data we have on Ridder is that he isn’t good. The rest is speculation.
The third-round pick led the league in red zone turnovers, and he didn’t start two games. That’s not something a play caller can overcome. Both things can be true at once. Arthur Smith failed in Atlanta, but Desmond Ridder isn’t the answer for the Falcons, Zac Robinson or not.
The Falcons will once again be in the market for a quarterback, as Terry Fontenot states. Every option should be on the table for this club.
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Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire
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