The Marcus Mariota redemption arc has flattened. After 13 mostly inoffensive weeks as the Atlanta Falcons’ starting quarterback, he’s headed to the bench.
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported Thursday that rookie Desmond Ridder would take the reins after the Falcons’ Week 14 bye, It’s a move Atlanta fans had clamored for as Mariota blanked targets downfield and turned a team with Kyle Pitts and Drake London into something approaching a 1990s Big Ten run-first offense.
Ridder won’t have Pitts to rely on thanks to a season-ending injury. But he’ll team with London, Cordarrelle Patterson and (long sigh) Olamide Zaccheaus, I guess, in hopes of electrifying a moribund offense. With Mariota at the helm, Atlanta had just 30 passing plays that gained at least 20 yards — the third-worst explosive play rate in the league.
The veteran quarterback threw long often but rarely turned these opportunities into points. His 44 deep balls ranked sixth among all NFL quarterbacks, per SIS. His 13 completions on those attempts is tied for 16th-best. He was, simply put, one of the worst downfield quarterbacks in the league in 2022.
Ridder is a lottery ticket, but one lots of folks have a good feeling about thanks to his experience at the University of Cincinnati.
marcus mariota was one of the worst deep ball passers in the league this year
on a low sample size last year, ridder was one of the best at throwing 20+ air yards among other college quarterbacks pic.twitter.com/bY0swSOVcT
— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) December 8, 2022
Ridder pushed the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff for several reasons. Foremost among them was the impressive deep ball accuracy that helped transform Alec Pierce from underrecruited high schooler to second-round NFL Draft pick. Pierce was one of two UC wideouts to average more than 17 yards per reception thanks to the downfield rainbows launched by the All-American quarterback.
Ridder can also replicate the strength that kept Mariota in business for 13 games in 2022 thanks to his mobility. He ran for nearly 2,200 yards and 28 touchdowns in four years at Cincinnati — a stat that gets more impressive when you remember sack yards count as negative rushes in the NCAA. Head coach Arthur Smith had Mariota run the ball 6.5 times per game in his run as starter. Now he’ll replace him with a quarterback who matched Mariota’s 4.52-second 40-yard dash time at last spring’s Draft Combine.
There are, of course, plenty of caveats here. Ridder languished to the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft because of his average arm strength, tendency to skip throws and concerns about how he’ll hold up against the closing speed of pro cornerbacks. He’s also surrounded by a receiving corps headlined by London (who is great) and filled out by Zaccheaus, Damiere Byrd, KhaDarel Hodge, Frank Darby, Parker Hesse and MyCole Pruitt. This isn’t a situation where he’ll be consistently lifted up by his teammates.
But it had to happen. There was no benefit to sticking with Mariota, a player who is under contract for 2023 but can easily be released back to free agency with a minimal hit to the team’s salary cap. Ridder deserves the chance to prove he can be a viable NFL quarterback before the Falcons sink to a top 10 draft pick and stare down another QB decision next spring.
Along the way, he’ll combine the running of Mariota with the deep balls Atlanta’s sorely missed. The Desmond Ridder Falcons may not be very good, but they’ll be considerably more fun to watch than the version that preceded them.
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