One of the moves the Arizona Cardinals made in the first week of the new league was trading receiver Rondale Moore to the Atlanta Falcons for quarterback Desmond Ridder. Ridder now is slated to be the Cardinals’ backup quarterback to Kyler Murray.
What should we know about Ridder?
Falcons Wire managing editor Matt Urben gives us this report:
He’s a decent game manager who still needs to become more consistent and better at processing defenses. He has a good arm with adequate arm strength. Ridder is actually pretty quick but his lack of pocket awareness makes him seem slower than he is.
The former third-round pick had some nice moments, but turned the ball over too much last season to keep the starting job. I still think he has quite a bit of upside. Truthfully, Atlanta threw him out there last year when he was nowhere near ready and it’s likely the reason that Arthur Smith got fired. In the right situation, he can still develop into a starting-caliber quarterback.
Ridder should be a quality back up for Kyler Murray.
Through two seasons, Ridder is 8-9 in 17 starts. He has completed 64% of his passes for 3,544 yards, 14 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.
He is athletic and can run. He had 53 rushing attempts for 193 yards last season and scored five touchdowns.
He was sacked 31 times in 2023.
When the Falcons played the Cardinals in 2023, Ridder did not start. However, when starter Taylor Heinicke got injured, Ridder came in during the fourth quarter and put the Falcons in position to get a win.
He completed 4-of-6 passes for 39 yards. He also rushed three times for 11 yards. Trailing 22-17, he scored a go-ahead nine-yard touchdown run with 2:33 left in the game to give the Falcons a 23-22 lead. Had Kyler Murray not led the Cardinals to a game-winning field goal to win the game, it would have been Ridder’s third fourth-quarter comeback of the season and fifth game-winning drive of 2023.
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