The Atlanta Falcons’ brass can’t seriously look at its roster right now and view this team as a legitimate playoff contender despite a surprising 2-2 start to the season.
Atlanta’s two consecutive victories have come against other pedestrian teams in that of the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns by a combined seven points. Veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota has struggled to a 51% completion mark with one touchdown and three turnovers during that two-game span. This comes on the heels of narrow losses to the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams in which Mariota didn’t show a whole heck of a lot.
At some point, it’s going to be clear to head coach Arthur Smith and Co. that the 2022 season is one of transition in Atlanta. If he’s given even half-cocked guarantees about a return in 2023 by general manager Terry Fontenot, Smith should at some point pull the trigger and go with rookie third-round pick Desmond Ridder to replace Mariota under center. Here’s why.
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Marcus Mariota doesn’t have a future as the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback
The No. 2 pick of the Tennessee Titans back in 2015, Mariota has not been a starter-caliber quarterback since all the way back in 2016 — his sophomore campaign. He’s started 10 games in all since the end of the 2018 season in stints with the Titans, Raiders and Falcons. Nothing we’ve seen durng this stretch has given us confidence that he’s set to return to previous form.
- Marcus Mariota stats (2017-22): 63% completion, 7,972 yards, 35 TD, 30 INT, 22 fumbles, 85.1 QB rating
Mariota, 28, ranks 26th in passing yards, 28th in quarterback rating and 30th in completion percentage through four weeks. This past week saw Atlanta run the ball 13 consecutive times after Mariota threw an interception against the Browns.
“Sometimes it’s not going to be pretty. We’re going to do whatever we can to win these games and give our guys credit, we found ways to make plays.”
Atlanta Falcons QB Marcus Mariota after Week 4 win
Winning should be the goal of every team around the NFL. But there’s a difference with these Falcons. If you’re winning ugly against average squads as your tapped-out quarterback continues to struggle, how does that equate to building for the future?Mariota has not won pretty on a consistent basis in over a half-decade.
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2023 NFL Draft should force the Atlanta Falcons into seeing what they have in Desmond Ridder
We have no idea if Ridder is a starter-caliber quarterback in the NFL. The Falcons’ brass has a better idea. But it has not seen the former Cincinnati Bearcat star in meaningful live-game action since selecting him in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
There’s a pretty big backdrop here. Next year’s iteration of the draft could provide the Atlanta Falcons with an opportunity to find a long-term replacement for Matt Ryan. It is expected to be among the best draft classes at quarterback in recent history. Sportsnaut’s most-recent NFL mock draft has four quarterbacks going in the first round, led by C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young.
At least short-term, sticking with Mariota over the next three weeks makes sense. Atlanta will be going up against top-end title contenders in that of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals. It doesn’t want to throw Ridder into the fire during this stretch, especially with Tampa and San Francisco ranked among the five-best defenses in the NFL.
Should Atlanta come out of this stretch having lost all three games, that’s when turning to Ridder would make the most sense heading into Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers. If the Falcons surprise the masses with Mariota continuing to struggle, Ridder then mght be able to light a fire under the offense for a potential playoff push while relying on young skill-position players such as tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receiver Drake London to do their thing.
Either way, the Atlanta Falcons owe it to themselves to see what Ridder might be able to bring to the table with those two core franchise cornerstones as a way to assertain whether using a first-round pick on a quarterback next April makes sense.