Falcons Keeping Desmond Ridder on the Bench Despite QB Struggles

Head coach Arthur Smith was perturbed at the question of switching QBs.

CINCINNATI — Bearcats fans hoping to see Desmond Ridder get real NFL snaps got a disappointing update from Falcons head coach Arthur Smith this week.

The team doesn't plan on benching Marcus Mariota anytime soon, despite losing three of their past four games.

"There's no situation. There was never a situation, ever," Smith annoyingly said when asked about the QB situation. "You understand why the questions get asked. You lose two games in five days and everybody wants to panic. We're right in the middle of it. We're not where we want to be, but the reality is we're right in the middle of a playoff race with a conference opponent coming in here -- a game we need to win."

At this point, signs point to Ridder being much further back in his NFL development than all of us on the outside can see. Mariota has been the same NFL player he's been since leaving Tennessee.

A dual-threat QB with lacking awareness and pure passing skills. He has one game this season over 250 yards passing, along with a pedestrian 12-7 TD-INT ratio. The advanced metrics like his play this year (ninth in QBR, 13th in EPA + CPOE Composite), but he's getting his hand held by a strong rushing offense and play-action passing.

Mariota is 24th in pass attempts, surrounded by names like Andy Dalton, Carson Wentz, and Daniel Jones. All four are players with serious limitations.

It's discouraging that Ridder still can't get enough of a handle on Smith's system to let his natural talent overwhelm Mariota.

"If we were going to make a change, I'd tell you," Smith concluded. "… Everything is up for grabs every week. If we felt that one move would certainly be the difference in us winning and losing, we'd make it. We're not at that point at a lot of spots."

Practice is the great equalizer. Mariota is still a step above the greatest quarterback in UC history.

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