I didn't rep the Falcons in the mock this year, and we didn't do the GMO. I didn't get to play out any of the potential QB scenarios for Atlanta in a collaborative/competition exercise. So I'll say right away that I believe that BY FAR, the best QB option in this year's draft was... ... Baker Mayfield. As for the rookies, I agree with the overall consensus that Pickett is the only one ready to start Week 1. Will he be a quality starter as a rookie? Doubtful. Will he ever be a quality starter? Eh, flip a coin. I like his chances, but I'm also happy that Atlanta did not use the #8 pick to take him. For the rest of the bunch, it's all in the eye of the beholder. ALL of them will need work, and their chances of success will mostly depend on pairing them with a coaching staff well suited to bring out their particular strengths and iron out their specific wrinkles. For Atlanta, Desmond Ridder was the closest to a young Matt Ryan. His main attributes that separate him from the rest of the pack are the intangibles - he has the leadership, the work ethic and the poise to take over the helm and be a franchise QB. He does need work on his mechanics though. I hope Atlanta can stick with Mariota for 2022 and groom Ridder for 2023 and beyond. Malik Willis is the closest to a younger Lamar Jackson. For Falcons fans, he might bring to mind a pre-injury D.J. Shockley. Some might even call him a cheaper version (and free of legal issues) of Michael Vick. He's also an Atlanta-area product, so the thought of one of our own becoming our dual-threat QB was already getting much of the fan base excited ahead of the draft. But... he's probably two years away from being ready for a starting role. (Hmmm... Mariota signed for two years. Funny how that might have worked out.) Carolina hired OC Ben McAdoo primarily to work with Sam Darnold, who the Panthers acquired for their 2nd and 4th round picks in this draft. Now he also has Matt Corral, who has the strong arm and overall athleticism that McAdoo seems to like. I'm not sold on him because he's from Ole Miss - he can play Lane Kiffen's system, but can he play anything else? Likewise, I'm not sold on Sam Howell because being in UNC's offense padded his stats. When you throw that many screens and quick slants, you really ought to complete more than 62.5% of your pass attempts. My personal favorite of the bunch was Carson Strong, who ended up going undrafted. I still say keep an eye on him over the long run. Like the rest, he needs a year or two of seasoning. But he has the size, the arm strength and the accuracy - in his final two college seasons, he threw for over 7000 yards (in 21 games), completed 70% of his attempts and threw 63 TDs vs 12 interceptions. The downside? Near zero mobility. That makes him a poor fit for Atlanta. Let's just say the Falcons have "issues" on the offensive line and leave it at that. He'll be a much better fit for a team that already has competent blocking. So the current scenario for Atlanta has Mariota as the starter this year, with Ridder getting comfortable with his new teammates, coaches and playbook. If all goes well, Ridder steps up to #1 next year with Mariota potentially remaining on board as his #2. The challenging question is what happens if Mariota gets hurt this year. No one in Atlanta is talking about it or suggesting it on forums or radio. But if Mariota went down in preseason, the best QB option in this year's draft (see what I did there?) is still available. And quite frankly, I think it's an intriguing option that GM Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith should discuss even with everyone else in the QB room healthy.
I know everyone, including myself, has uttered these words or thoughts.. However, if you really look at their careers, Ridder, also being a 4 year productive starter, should be more NFL ready than Pickett based on his statistical consistency. It would be up to the offensive coordinator to build an offense around his strengths. That being said, I agree with this post as well... Mayfield, imho, is a better QB than anyone currently on the roster and frankly, I think he would be even better in a dome.
The idea of Mayfield as the starter with Mariota temporarily as the #2 and with Ridder in development should be strong enough to satisfy fans of ANY franchise. Atlanta would have to extend Mayfield, but they certainly have the cap space in 2023 and beyond. They'd just have to convert enough of his salary to bonus to make 2022 work, which should be easy enough at this point. I don't think it will happen, but I'd love to see it. With Ridder, I know that Atlanta's new QB coach has already been working heavily with him on learning the system. I'm happy to hear that part of it - I know first hand that Charles London is very good at assimilating overall concepts and that he'd be a good coach in that sense. The main concern I would have is who is going to help him with his mechanics. I guess if Carolina OC Ben McAdoo is working with Sam Darnold, then it wouldn't be a stretch for Atlanta OC Dave Ragone (a former QB himself) to work with Ridder. But thinking of Carolina makes me even more happy that Atlanta snagged Ridder in the third round, because it means that Carolina did NOT get him. Ridder needs to become more consistent with his throwing motion and particularly his foot/body work on rollouts. I think McAdoo would likely have that straightened out by the end of training camp. I'm not as confident with Ragone yet, simply because he's new here. And as much as I like Charles London for helping Ridder and Feleipe Franks learn the scheme, I don't think he's likely to be an ace at working with mechanics. He was a running back, not a QB.
I just read an article that now has me 100% sold on Ridder. The article has Jordan Palmer talking about working with Ridder on exactly the mechanical / footwork issues that I think he needs to address. It noted that Palmer has been working with Ridder privately since 2020 - which helps explain his improvement from 2020 to 2021. And it had a quote from Ridder himself noting the importance of not letting his weight transfer too far back in his throwing motion or over-striding. He gets it, he knows what he needs to fix and how to get there, and most importantly he has someone that works with him on those mechanics. That settles it. The key for me with all the QBs in this year's class is pairing them with the right coaches to develop their strengths and improve their flaws, because they ALL have their limitations. I didn't know before that Ridder has been working with Jordan Palmer. With Palmer (and perhaps a bit of help from OC Dave Ragone or WR coach T.J. Yates) for the mechanics and Charles London for the X's and O's, Ridder has the right group around him. He certainly has the arm strength and the athleticisim, and the intangibles are off the charts with him. I still want to see the Falcons figure out the offensive line before they hand him the starting role, and I'd like to see them redshirt him for all of 2022 if possible. But when the time comes, I think he's set to show he's the best QB of the class.
