The Falcons are going to overhaul the quarterback position this offseason. As Arthur Blank said last week, every head coach candidate that interviewed for the Falcons agreed it had to be upgraded, but it doesn’t take a bright football mind to be aware of that. Anybody who paid close attention to what went on in Atlanta under center should know Desmond Ridder is not a franchise quarterback.
However, that’s not to say Ridder doesn’t have a place in this league. He’s certainly not the worst quarterback under contract entering the offseason, and given his contract situation, he could be the perfect backup for the Falcons over the next couple of seasons.
Desmond Ridder probably isn’t going to bloom into the consistent starting quarterback I thought he could be. He makes too many back-breaking mistakes without a clear calling card to make up for it.
That being said, Ridder is perfectly fine in the spot starter/backup tier. He handles himself well enough pre-snap and can get through all of his reads efficiently. Most of Ridder’s mistakes come because he is trying to be Superman without the means to do so, not because he doesn’t see or understand something.
Ridder can stick around for a while. It’s just unlikely he’s going to be the answer either in Atlanta or elsewhere any time soon.
I’m not sure Desmond Ridder is the 26th-best quarterback on the planet. I would have him more in the 30-40 range. Klassen even put Ridder ahead of Deshaun Watson, which feels like quite a stretch, even if Watson hasn’t been himself for several years. But as you can see below, the entire list is chock full of hot takes.
We could sit here for hours and discuss what’s wrong with this list. Joe Burrow being all the way at #9 is disrespectful, but not nearly as disrespectful as having guys like Jalen Hurts, Brock Purdy, and Tua Tagovailoa outside the top 15.
Regardless, this is about Desmond Ridder. At best, he’s one of the worst starting quarterbacks in football right now. That’s not going to get you very far in this league. Ridder is more than capable of being a backup in Atlanta for the remainder of his rookie deal, but expecting anything more than that from him will spell the same fate for Raheem Morris as it did Arthur Smith.
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