This has been a weird year for the Falcons.
They were expected to sit near the bottom of the NFC South standings but instead have had a mini-resurgence. Atlanta has climbed to second in the division with a 4-5 record — behind the Buccaneers only by way of head-to-head tiebreaker.
With a playoff spot in sight, coach Arthur Smith has opted to stay with experience over youthful exuberance at quarterback, with veteran Marcus Mariota starting at center over rookie Desmond Ridder
Figuring out when to hand the reins to a young QB is always a tough balance. Calls for Ridder have grown louder in recent weeks, with many hoping that a change in QB could help unlock Drake London and Kyle Pitts as downfield targets.
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The Sporting News looks at how Mariota and Ridder compare:
Should the Falcons start Desmond Ridder over Marcus Mariota?
It's easy to fall into one of two camps: stick with Mariota or hand the offense to Ridder.
Mariota's limitations as a passer are clear. He's not a great deep thrower — something that was exposed in a less-than-stellar showing against the Chargers in Week 9. Through the opening nine weeks of the season, Atlanta ranks 30th in the league in passing attempts and passing yards.
No player has suffered more as a result than Pitts. Despite scoring just one touchdown as a rookie, he was one of the league's most exciting tight ends because of his vertical receiving skills. He ended the year with 1,026 receiving yards, becoming just the second rookie tight end to net 1,000 (Hall of Famer Mike Ditka was the first).
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Pitts is lagging far behind his 2021 pace this year, though. He has just 285 yards through eight games and has been held to 30 yards or fewer on five different occasions.
Much of that is due to Mariota not having confidence in his arm strength, something he admitted during a press conference this week.
"First and foremost, I can do a better job of giving Kyle more opportunities with the ball," Mariota said. "I think sometimes I've been a little too safe, a little too conservative where I'm putting the football, so giving him a chance to go get it, I think that’ll help some of his target numbers."
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For Atlanta to move forward, it will need to get Pitts and Drake London — another talented pass-catcher who hasn't made much of an impact in recent weeks — involved in the offense. If Mariota can't do that, then perhaps Ridder will.
What makes Desmond Ridder a better option than Marcus Mariota?
Ridder's arm caught the attention of many analysts last summer, including ESPN's Dan Orlovsky.
“Desmond Ridder has a chance to be a really good pro …shocking thing is his arm is 20% stronger than in college, he was throwing the snot out of the ball.” @DanOrlovsky7 likes the rookie QB in Atlanta pic.twitter.com/3Ia2Q4E46f
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) August 29, 2022
And although it was a small sample size, Ridder offered a glimpse into his arm talent during the preseason.
Desmond Ridder completed +13.5% of his passes over expected and generated +8.0 passing EPA in the Falcons second preseason game.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) August 23, 2022
Ridder leads all rookie QBs in passing EPA by volume (+10.7) and efficiency (+0.31 per dropback) through two weeks of the preseason.#DirtyBirds pic.twitter.com/GQiIvTlx26
He's still far from a finished product, of course. Ridder struggled during his last preseason game, tossing two interceptions. But with his lively arm, good speed (he ran a 4.52 40-yard dash at the Combine) and hulking frame (6-4, 207 pounds), the appeal is there.
Atlanta has been able to win in spite of Mariota's deficiencies. But if the Falcons want to get the most out of London and Pitts, as well as supplement their impressive run game (which ranks fourth in the league in total yards), then they should look to get Ridder on the field. Don't be surprised if that happens sooner rather than later.
