Arthur Smith hitched his wagon to second-year QB Desmond Ridder this offseason when the team decided to not pursue Lamar Jackson and brought in Taylor Heinicke to be the back-up. The keys to this offense were handed to the former Cincinnati Bearcat after making four starts in his rookie season. Through three weeks of the 2023 season the Falcons are 2-1 however the offense has been anemic at best. In a year where the Falcons have playoff aspirations, just how long are the Falcons going to give their young signal caller before they pull the plug?
Falcons' Reporter Joe Patrick was asked that very question on "the Other Side of the Glass" with host Chris Thomas.
"I have confidence in Ridder that he is going to do the things that Arthur Smith needs him to do for this offense to be successful." said Patrick about the play of the young quarterback. He also marked that the team stuck with Marcus Mariota deep into the season last year, but he also stated that Ridder isn't totally safe.
The Falcons are in win-now mode. The NFC South and, to an extent, the NFC in totality is up for grabs. Due to those factors Joe Patrick believes "there is more of an incentive to change the quarterback this year than there was last year."
Taylor Heinicke has started to become popular with the fans in Atlanta as they yearn for more juice from the offense. Patrick spoke on Heinicke as well, stating, "he hasn't played in this system before...You (the Atlanta Falcons) would rather stick with the devil you know."
The Falcons' insider closed with saying that, "I think we are going to see this team stick with Desmond Ridder, probably through the rest of the season." It seems like we could see the Falcons move on from Ridder but it may not be this season.