The Falcons appear committed to giving Ridder a chance to be the starter at QB in 2023, at least on paper after Atlanta brought in Taylor Heinecke, who was 12-11-1 with Washington the last two seasons. If Ridder holds the job in training camp, expectations remain low and he's not on the radar in anything other than two-QB and Superflex leagues. Ridder's 6.2 yards per attempt is the most concerning stat from his rookie season and he also didn't show a consistent ability to keep a passing game in rhythm. Of course, these were Ridder's first starts. This year he'll have a full offseason to work, a healthy Kyle Pitts and blue-chip running back prospect Bijan Robinson added to the mix. A case can be made that he has one of the better supporting casts in the NFL from a pure talent standpoint. If you believe in his progression as a passer, Ridder is an interesting dart throw in the final round of your drafts.
Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Attempts 38 passes in loss
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Ridder completed 21 of 38 passes for 201 yards during Sunday's 20-6 loss versus Detroit. He also rushed twice for three yards.
Ridder attempted a career-high 38 passes, and it was actually the most pass attempts by a Falcons quarterback since Arthur Smith took over. However, Ridder failed to produce much with the increased chances. He also saw a major regression in his running production, which is concerning. It seemed Atlanta made a concerted effort to call designed run plays for Ridder in Week 2, but that wasn't part of the plan in Week 3. Ridder doesn't need to be rostered in most standard leagues, but there have been some encouraging moments through three weeks.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Overcomes early adversity
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Ridder completed 19 of 32 passes for 237 yards, a touchdown and an interception during Sunday's 25-24 win over the Packers. He also rushed 10 times for 39 yards and an additional score.
Ridder wasn't sharp early. He threw an interception on his second pass of the game and had two more throws go through the hands of defenders. However, the quarterback also had a touchdown called back after review, so the what-ifs could go both ways. In the end, Ridder did what he needed to do to help Atlanta pull off the victory. Fantasy managers should be enthused with Ridder's production on the ground, but it's also encouraging that he threw the ball 32 times after just 18 pass attempts in Week 1. The Falcons' offense was still run-heavy (45 rushes to 32 passes), but Ridder will remain a viable fantasy option if he frequently replicates the role he filled against Green Bay.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Efficient during Week 1 win
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Ridder completed 15 of 18 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown during Sunday's 24-10 win over the Panthers.
Ridder was efficient during his first action of 2023, but he wasn't asked to do much. Regardless, the 2022 third-round pick posted a 111.8 quarterback rating as the Falcons cruised to victory against a division rival. With a stout running game and plenty of talented playmakers around him, Ridder needs to continue to be efficient while limiting turnovers. If he does that, Atlanta has a great chance to pull out victories on a weekly basis. While that's good for the Falcons, it doesn't bode well for Ridder's fantasy profile moving forward.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Not expected to play Thursday night
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Ridder is not expected to play in the Falcons' preseason finale against the Steelers Thursday night, Josh Kendall of The Athletic reports.
The Falcons are not expected to play any of their starters in the final exhibition ahead of Week 1, and instead Logan Woodside is likely to see plenty of reps against Pittsburgh in an effort to convince the coaching staff to keep him around as the QB3 behind Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. In total this preseason, Ridder played 17 offensive snaps, completing seven of nine pass attempts for 80 scoreless yards and a red-zone interception.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: To start next Friday
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Coach Arthur Smith said after Friday's 19-3 win at Miami that Ridder and the rest of the Falcons' starters will play in next Friday's preseason game against the Bengals, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com reports.
Ridder was held out of Atlanta's exhibition opener, but he'll get his first chance to hand off to first-round rookie running back Bijan Robinson in preseason Week 2. It's unclear how many series Ridder can expect to get under center, but it also may serve as the team's dress rehearsal ahead of Week 1.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Has Blank's confidence
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Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Tuesday that he feels "pretty strongly" that Ridder is "going to be our quarterback of the future," Josh Kendall of The Athletic reports.
Head coach Arthur Smith named Ridder as the team's starting quarterback in late March, two weeks after the team signed Taylor Heinicke to a two-year, $14 million contract. The second-year pro seems to be making a good impression in training camp, but there's still a lot that can go wrong with a relatively unproven young quarterback who has one of the better backups in the league behind him. Even if his standing atop the depth chart is truly secure this summer, Ridder won't be long for the starting job come September if he doesn't play well. Ridden has several things working in his favor, including ample collegiate experience as a starter, an Atlanta offensive line that improved greatly last season and a supporting cast of skill-position players that includes top-10 picks from each of the last three NFL Drafts (tight end Kyle Pitts, wideout Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson). It doesn't hurt to have the support of the team owner either, though Blank is 80 years old and seemingly not quite as involved with the team's day-to-day operations as he once was.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Named starting quarterback
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Head coach Arthur Smith announced Tuesday that Ridder will be the Falcons' starting quarterback to begin the 2023 campaign, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com reports.
After the acquisition of Taylor Heinicke earlier this month, Rothstein reported that Ridder was still expected to retain the starting gig, and Smith finally confirmed as much. Smith's comments also suggest that the Falcons aren't targeting a quarterback with the No. 8 overall pick in the upcoming draft. Ridder took over for a struggling Marcus Mariota and started the final four games of the 2022 campaign, completing 63.5 percent of his pass attempts for 708 yards and two touchdowns while carrying 16 times for 64 yards. Ridder didn't throw an interception in any of those contests but lost fumbles in Week 17 and 18 wins over the Cardinals and Buccaneers, respectively.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Still viewed as Falcons' starter
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Despite the Falcons' reported signing of Taylor Heinicke, Ridder is still expected to enter training camp as the starting quarterback, ESPN's Michael Rothstein reports.
It's become evident that Atlanta wants to see what it has in Ridder, the No. 74 overall pick in last year's NFL Draft. He made four starts to close out his rookie season but wasn't all that impressive, completing 63.5 percent of his throws for 177 yards per game with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Heinicke could give Ridder a run at the top job in camp, but the former Commander has already demonstrated he isn't a 17-game starter in the NFL.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Leads team to Week 18 win
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Ridder completed 19 of 30 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns during Sunday's 30-17 win over Tampa Bay. He also rushed twice for nine yards.
Ridder wasn't overly prolific or efficient, but he avoided turnovers and made plays when he needed to. He had a strong connection with Drake London, who finished with a career-high 120 receiving yards, but Ridder's touchdown passes went to Olamide Zaccheaus and MyCole Pruitt. It was Atlanta's second win with Ridder under center, and the two-game win streak to end the campaign is certainly an encouraging finish to build off of going into the offseason. However, the Falcons are likely still going to be in the market for a quarterback this offseason, leaving Ridder's future unclear.
Ridder completed 19 of 26 passes for 169 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in Sunday's 20-19 win over the Cardinals. He added four rushes for nine yards.
Ridder has still yet to throw a touchdown through three career starts, though he's reached 6.5 yards per attempt in each of his last two games. He did very little early in Sunday's win, though he led a game-winning drive in the final moments of the fourth quarter during which he went 3-for-3 for 31 yards to help get the team in field-goal range. Though the Falcons have remained a run-focused offense, Ridder has shown a baseline ability to run the offense in the first few starts of his career.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: More efficient in loss to Ravens
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Ridder completed 22 of 33 passes for 218 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions in Saturday's 17-9 loss to Baltimore.
He added eight rushing yards on four carries. The young QB was much more efficient than he was last week in his NFL debut and showed great chemistry with fellow rookie Drake London, who accounted for 96 of his 218 passing yards, but Ridder still failed to produce a TD, just as he did against the Saints. The 2022 third-round pick will have two more chances to complete his first career touchdown pass before the end of the season -- next week against the Cardinals and in Week 18 against the Buccaneers, both home games for the Falcons.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Underwhelming debut
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Ridder completed 13 of 26 passes for 97 yards and rushed six times for 38 yards during Sunday's 21-18 loss to the Saints.
Ridder completed just half of his pass attempts and had an interception overturned to start the second half, resulting in an extremely disappointing debut through the air. However, the rookie third-round pick attempted to salvage his offensive production by showcasing his dual-threat ability. Overall, there wasn't much to take away from Ridder's performance, but the lone bright spot was the connection he appeared to have with fellow rookie Drake London, as the duo connected seven times (11 targets) for 70 yards. With Marcus Mariota (knee) out for the remainder of the regular season, Ridder should continue drawing starts, regardless of his performance.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Starting chance not imminent
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Ridder isn't expected to receive an opportunity to displace incumbent Marcus Mariota as the Falcons' starting quarterback so long as Atlanta remains in playoff contention, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
After the Atlanta offense floundered in consecutive losses to the Chargers and Panthers, Mariota's job status has come into question. Even though Mariota has completed just 61.9 percent of his attempts and has cleared 200 passing yards on only three occasions this season, he's amassed 347 yards on the ground and has accounted for 15 touchdowns to help keep the Falcons reasonably competitive. Even though Atlanta enters Sunday's matchup with the Bears sitting on a 4-6 record, the Falcons are just one game out of first place in the NFC South, so head coach Arthur Smith will continue to stick with the veteran quarterback for the time being rather than getting an early evaluation on Ridder, a rookie third-round pick out of Cincinnati. Like Mariota, Ridder, who has yet to make his NFL regular-season debut, offers some upside as a runner that would presumably allow Atlanta to run a similar offense if Smith opts for a change at quarterback later this season. Ridder acquitted himself reasonably well in three preseason appearances, completing 34 of 56 attempts (60.7 percent) for 431 yards (7.7 YPA), three touchdowns and two interceptions while carrying eight times for 58 yards.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: One TD, two interceptions Saturday
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Ridder completed 14 of 21 passes for 185 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in Saturday's 28-12 preseason win over the Jaguars. He also rushed twice for minus-1 yard while playing into the fourth quarter of Atlanta's preseason finale.
This performance showed why the Falcons plan to open the regular season with Marcus Mariota under center and are likely planning to keep starting him for most or all of the season. Ridder's a good athlete, but the rookie third-round pick still needs to work on his decision-making as a passer. His first pass of the game was picked off, and while Ridder bounced back with a two-yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Tyler Allgeier on the next possession, he was intercepted again in the final seconds of the first half.
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Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Atlanta catches in third round
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The Falcons selected Ridder in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, 74th overall.
Ridder fell much further than expected, and while there was a reason for that descent, this still looks like an excellent pick for the Falcons. Ridder lacks a strong arm and isn't the most natural passer, but his leadership character and work ethic are exceptional and he should present as a rushing threat in the NFL thanks to his 4.52 speed. Ridder (6-foot-3, 211 pounds) was a program-defining player at Cincinnati, where he was a highly successful four-year starter, and he'll likely get a shot to start in Atlanta even with Marcus Mariota the favorite for the top job in the short term.
