Marcus Mariota has Atlanta Falcons playing winning football, but there are still some lingering questions surrounding the starting quarterback.
Through his first four games, Mariota has been somewhat of a mixed bag. His numbers are pretty pedestrian -- completing 58.2 percent of his passes for 779 yards, and three touchdowns to four interceptions -- but the team has a chance to be above .500 for the first time since 2017. That said, Mariota struggled on Sunday, only completing seven of his 19 passes for 139 yards and an interception, with nearly half of that production coming on the game's opening drive.
Harry Douglas joined the Morning Show with John and Hugh on Tuesday morning to discuss the Falcons' starting quarterback, and when he could realistically see the team moving on to the rookie for snaps.
"Coming into Sunday's game, I thought he had been doing a decent job," Douglas said on Tuesday morning. "It's just about six to eight plays that make you cringe. If you eliminate those plays, then it wouldn't even be a conversation about should Desmond Ridder be playing or Marcus Mariota should be playing."
Marcus has been good, not great, for the Falcons through four games. The team is winning, but there have been some critical mistakes that have hurt the offense. There have been far too many dropped snaps, fumbled footballs, or poor decisions, but it has not enough for the Falcons to give him the boot.
There's no telling when Desmond Ridder will be ready to step in, but with other rookies like Kenny Pickett and Bailey Zappe getting playing time early this season (and looking pretty good in doing so), the noise is certainly only going to get louder.
At what point could we see the rookie?
"As time passes and you get to week eight to twelve, if Marcus [Mariota] still hasn't eliminated those mistakes and you feel like Desmond Ridder, being a rookie, is the guy that can put you in a better position to be successful then you consider it," Harry continued telling the Morning Show. "If you feel like Desmond Ridder cannot and he still needs more time to develop and understand this game, then [he'll need more time]."
Mariota certainly has some things to clean up, but he'll receive ample time to do so. There's no guarantee that the rookie will come in and be any better, and rushing that process would only be a disservice to him.
