Broncos radio host Ben Allbright "guarantees" on a recent episode of the "Fantasy Football Metrics" podcast that if Arthur Smith was still head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, the next signal-caller in Atlanta would have been Russell Wilson. Allbright is a member of the Denver Broncos radio team and is not paid to break news for the team
Big thanks to Ben Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) for jumping on our podcast. Check out the latest episode where Ben and AndrewDFS (@AndrewDuhan) discuss Denver's QB room, Russell Wilson & Arthur Smith, Rodgers, Aiyuk, and Stafford's contract request!
— FFMetrics (@FFMetrics) June 20, 2024
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Allbright goes so far as to say that the backup quarterback would have also been Justin Fields, as well, just like it has played out for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Essentially, Allbright says that the Falcons would have went in the complete opposite direction of building out their quarterback room. Instead of paying the premium for Kirk Cousins and drafting Michael Penix, Jr., Atlanta would try to go cheap again at the position and attempt to salvage a Wilson-Fields QB room. Again, let's take this with a grain of salt, it's pretty easy to make such a definitive statement on a team's roster-building strategy after we've seen it play out.
If Smith were retained and that was the route he went to salvage his job, it would make sense. The extra money saved in free agency could go toward a big-name free agent to cushion the blow of potentially losing both Calais Campbell and Bud Dupree this past off-season, or bring in that second cornerback to help shore out the secondary. Either way, there would have been more resources to build out the rest of the team, but those questions marks would have still lingered at the quarterback position.
If true, this adds yet another wrinkle to the opening day matchup between the Steelers and Falcons that is not devoid of intrigue already. If you're looking at this game, there are already various storylines that come to mind:
- Arthur Smith returns to Atlanta
- Raheem Morris vs. Mike Tomlin
- Most expensive QB room vs. Cheapest QB room
- Kirk Cousins vs. Wilson/Fields
Adding this detail to an already intriguing opening weekend dynamic is just another reason why the NFL is the best reality TV show on the planet.
To buy tickets to the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Atlanta Falcons game on September 8th at 1 p.m. EST, you can go to this link: Tickets
