After last Thursday’s loss to Carolina, some Atlanta Falcons fans hoped the coaching staff would use the mini-bye to prepare rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder.
That’s not possible.
Arthur Smith said Monday he plans to keep Marcus Mariota at quarterback.
When asked about the QB situation, Smith insisted, “There is no situation. There was never a situation, ever.”
“You understand why questions get asked,” Smith said. “You lose two games in five days and everybody wants to panic. We’re right in the middle of that.” Even though we’re not where we wanted to be, we’re right in the middle of a playoff race with a conference opponent coming in — a game we need to win.”
We’d be talking about four consecutive defeats if it wasn’t for a gifted overtime win against Carolina in Week 8.
In recent games, Mariota hasn’t just struggled. It’s been weeks since he looked anything close to an NFL–caliber passer. While his rushing ability opens things up for offensive players who want to run hard, he has been a liability in must-pass situations for the Falcons.
He has one game above 250 passing yards, and it took him overtime to get there in Week 8. Mariota has 12 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Last week he was awful against the Falcons, throwing a bad pick and making some ill-advised decisions.
Smith has refused even to entertain the possibility of seeing what Ridder can do, despite growing calls for the rookie.
‘If we’re going to make a change, I’ll let you know,” Smith said. ‘Everything is up for grabs every week. If we felt one move could make the difference between winning and losing, we’d do it.’
At 4-6, one game behind the Bucs, Smith likely doesn’t want to bench a QB while still in the hunt. Perhaps a few more losses will change his mind.
Mariota isn’t the future at the center, however.
In light of that, Atlanta must find out if Ridder is the answer at some point this season before investing in another QB with a first-round pick. Whenever Smith waits longer, the sample size shrinks, and the situation becomes more diluted — as we’ve seen with Davis Mills and Drew Lock in previous seasons, who showed promise against soft schedules before falling flat.
Unless Smith and his staff have already decided based on practices that Ridder isn’t good enough to be an NFL starter, it’s time to see what the rookie can do.