Falcons benching QB Desmond Ridder should end his 2023 season
With better play at quarterback, Atlanta would be the favorite to win the NFC South, so head coach Arthur Smith made the right call in benching quarterback Desmond Ridder for Taylor Heinicke in Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings.
Smith stressed the decision was made on a "short-term" basis, but he has enough evidence to see that Ridder shouldn't be a starting quarterback for the rest of the year.
For those in the "Ridder is actually good" camp, let's examine his stats, along with those of two other quarterbacks in eight starts this season.
Player A: 173-of-260 (66.5 percent) for 1,641 yards, nine touchdowns, eight interceptions, 5.8 percent sack rate
Player B: 157-of-240 (65.4 percent) for 1,701 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions, 9.4 percent sack rate
Player C: 167-of-266 (62.8 percent) for 1,569 yards, eight touchdowns, five interceptions, six percent sack rate
Player A is New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, Player B is Ridder and Player C is new Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who had accumulated those stats with the Arizona Cardinals.
Jones has been benched twice this season for poor performance while Dobbs is a journeyman no one expects to be a franchise savior.
Atlanta has averaged 17.9 points in Ridder's 12 starts. This season, the Falcons rank 28th at 17.3 points per game.
Ridder also leads the league in turnovers (12), including three red-zone fumbles in a 16-13 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and another fumble last week against the Tennessee Titans in a 28-23 loss.
For a quarterback selected in the third round, Ridder has truthfully performed about as well as one could reasonably be expected to this early into their career. However, Atlanta can't afford to be patient because of its approach to the 2023 offseason.
When a team drafts a running back in the top 10 of the NFL Draft, like Atlanta did with Bijan Robinson, it expects to be a playoff contender. And in a wide-open NFC South, the Falcons absolutely are – just not with Ridder.
The offense responded well against the Titans when Heinicke entered at the beginning of the third quarter, making him worth starting in Week 9. He finished 12-of-21 for 175 yards and a touchdown.
Smith made the right decision, but it is worth noting Heinicke might not solve Atlanta's turnover issues. From 2021-22, he tied for 11th-most turnovers in the NFL despite only appearing in 25 out of 34 possible games.
If Heinicke maintains Ridder's troubling turnover trend, the second-year quarterback may get a chance to redeem himself later this season. Otherwise, he's likely started for the last time with the Falcons in 2023 and possibly beyond.
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