Is Desmond Ridder the Guy For the Falcons?
Photo Credit: Peter van den Berg, USA Today
After getting off to a 2-0 start to the season, the Falcons have fallen back to 2-2, with back to back losses raising questions about the future of the team. While the defense has remained relatively solid, the offense has looked stagnant behind first year starter Desmond Ridder. With the amount of draft capital we’ve spent on weapons over the past few years, serious questions are starting to pop up on if Desmond Ridder is the answer in Atlanta. While the blame for the Falcons’ offensive struggles should not be entirely placed on Ridder, his ability to run the offense and put points up on the board is certainly in question thus far.
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It’s common knowledge that the Falcons are an extremely run-heavy team, so nobody had expectations of Ridder putting up Justin Herbert type numbers, however no matter how you look at it Ridder’s stats have been underwhelming. Through 4 games Ridder has thrown for 744 yards, averaging a mere 186 yards per game (YPG) which is well below the league average. Ridder has also thrown 3 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions for a less than desirable 1:1 touchdown to interception ratio. As I stated earlier, nobody expects 300 yards and 3 touchdowns a game out of Ridder, but this outright lack of production is concerning.
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With numerous talented pass-catchers such as Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Bijan Robinson out of the backfield, and even an extremely underrated option of Johnnu Smith, the offense should simply be able to move the ball through the air easier. While offensive scheme and play calling certainly play a role here, Ridder's inability to make plays through the air has been prevalent. His completion percentage for the season sits at 62.2%, however this number is inflated from a low volume performance week 1 where he completed 83.3% of his passes; in the next three weeks his completion percentage was a lowly 58.6%. Turnovers have also been a problem for Ridder as he has both thrown 3 interceptions, and fumbled 3 times accounting for 6 total turnovers through 4 games. Whether this offense wants to continue to run the ball or try to air it out more, Ridder needs to clean up his turnovers.
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As far as the running game goes, Atlanta has been stellar as rookie top 10 pick Bijan Robinson looks to be worth every penny of his hefty rookie contract. The tandem of Robinson and second year power back Tyler Allgeier looks to be a solid building block for the future of the Falcons, as well as a young and talented receiving duo of Kyle Pitts and Drake London, who are very productive when they are targeted with any sort of regularity. The offensive line, although not being amazing by any means, is at the very minimum solid with all-pro guard Chris Lindstrom leading the pack. Despite all of these solid units offensively they continue to struggle as a whole, and if they plan to turn this offense around, then better play from Ridder will be an absolute necessity. Playing in arguably the weakest division in the NFL, the Falcons could look to make a strong push to the top dogs of the NFC south over the next few years, but better quarterback play will be needed, whether that's from Desmond Ridder or someone else, only time will tell.
