Atlanta Falcons: ESPN “completely confident” in quarterbacks on roster

The good folks at ESPN released a quarterback confidence index recently and the Atlanta Falcons came in at number three behind only the Patriots and Packers

Dan Graziano of ESPN recently took the time to assess and rank each and every NFL team’s entire quarterback “situation.” In this assessment, Graziano took all things into consideration including the ability of the starting quarterback to play all 16 games, his remaining life and of course how well the team could compete if they had to turn to their backup. The Atlanta Falcons came in at number three overall.

Unsurprisingly the number one ranked team was the New England Patriots. Armed with 40-year old Tom Brady who seems to never get hurt, they also have Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett who both won games in 2016 while Brady was suspended four contests.

Behind them was the Green Bay Packers. Their quarterback Aaron Rodgers also never misses games due to injury, but if he did go down Brett Hundley has shown plenty of promise in his limited preseason work. Finally behind them was the Dirty Birds and Graziano explained why they landed where they did:

"“Matt Ryan is the reigning MVP. Backup Matt Schaub, who knows this Kyle Shanahan-designed offense as well as any quarterback in the league, stuck around instead of following Shanahan to San Francisco. There might be some concerns about the transition to Steve Sarkisian as coordinator and playcaller, but there’s nothing but confidence in the men taking the snaps. Ryan has missed a grand total of two games in his nine-year career, is coming off his best season and has Julio Jones, Devonta Freeman and an array of weapons around him to help keep things humming in Atlanta.” — Graziano"

The Falcons really are in a good spot with Matt Ryan under center. Not just because he won the MVP last season, but also his durability. As Graziano points out Ryan has been a sort of ironman in that he rarely ever misses games. As for the backup spot, Matt Schaub is a smart relief pitcher that has been in the league a long time. He gets a lot of grief for how it ended with the Houston Texans when he was their starter, but has had some successful seasons including 2009 when he led the NFL in passing yardage.

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For what it’s worth, the Falcons divisional rivals came in at number six for the New Orleans Saints, 11 for the Carolina Panthers and 21 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To be fair to the Bucs, this rating came in before they signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to be the backup, but a big reason for concern there was the interceptions thrown by starter Jameis Winston.