This past offseason, we saw the Atlanta Falcons make wholesale changes to their organization. Trading an NFL MVP doesn’t happen often, but that’s exactly what general manager Terry Fontenot did by trading Matt Ryan and later signing Marcus Mariota to be the team’s new starting quarterback.
Still, that wasn’t good enough for some.
In April, the Falcons made former Cincinnati Bearcats QB Desmond Ridder the second quarterback taken in the 2022 NFL Draft. Atlanta selected Ridder with the 74th pick.
While mid-round rookies are rarely day-one starting quarterbacks, it didn’t stop the speculation from pointing to Ridder eventually taking over under center. With the Falcons entering the season with low expectations, some even felt that Ridder could quickly win over the team, leading the rookie to see early playing time.
We’re in Week 11, the Falcons are 4-6, one game behind Tampa Bay for the NFC South division lead, and Ridder has yet to throw a pass. In other words, don’t expect Ridder to get off the bench any time soon.
In fact, this is a sentiment coach Arthur Smith recently echoed, with the former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator throwing his support behind Mariota, who he coached in Tennessee as well.
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Atlanta Falcons head coach sticks up for Marcus Mariota
Even though he may not get much respect in comparison to the top starting quarterbacks around the NFL, Mariota is holding down the fort in Atlanta. Mariota’s led the team to victory over Seattle, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Carolina. If the season ended today, two of those four teams would make the playoffs.
- Marcus Mariota stats (2022): 61.9% comp rate, 1,747 passing yards, 12 TD, 7 INT, 347 rush yards, 3 TD rushing
Mariota may not have any 300-yard days or helped the team score more than 30 more than once this year, but he’s doing just enough to give Atlanta a chance to compete.
Recently coach Smith was asked about “the QB situation,” to which he seemed confused to even have to address the topic.
“There is no situation. There was never a situation — ever.”
Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith when asked about team’s QB situation
The thing is, Mariota’s operating the Falcons’ run-heavy approach quite well. They’re averaging 23.2 points per game, good for 12th in the NFL. The Falcons also have the fourth-most rushing yards as a team, despite losing their leading rusher, Cordarrelle Patterson, for four games due to injury.
What Mariota is doing may not be pretty, it may not be flashy, but for the Falcons, it’s hard to argue with the results in a season when many expected Atlanta to be bottom dwellers.
Related: 2022 NFL Power Rankings: Reviewing all 32 teams heading into Week 11