Atlanta Falcons: Matt Schaub is the best backup QB in the NFC South

As much as Atlanta Falcons fans do not like the thought of having Matt Schaub as the backup quarterback to Matt Ryan, he is the best backup quarterback in the NFC South and one of the best in the league.

There seems to be a lot of love for Saints third-string quarterback Taysom Hill lately, with a recent NFL expert site naming him the best backup in the league.

Don’t get it twisted, he is nothing more than a wildcat formation running back. Hell, can you call yourself a quarterback when you have attempted just 13 passes in your career? Between bringing in Teddy Bridgewater for 2018 and 2019 then signing Jameis Winston, the Saints clearly have no confidence in the WR/RB/QB to lead the team from the single most important position on the field.

By the time Matt Schaub was 29, he had started 40 games at quarterback and been selected to his first Pro-Bowl. When you look across the NFC South, the only backup quarterback to have accomplished that same thing is Jameis Winston and there is no way I want Mr. 30/30 to take the field if Matt Ryan got hurt.

Sure, we wish Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff would draft more quarterbacks, especially as Schaub continues to climb the rungs of life, but when you look at the quarterback problem across the league, having a multi-time Pro Bowl selection and former starter as your backup, is a situation that many other teams would love to be in.

Nick Foles changed the way that people see backup quarterbacks. While everyone seems to be trying to replicate that lightning is a backup bottle, what we know is that Eagles team was stacked in the trenches and in the secondary which really helped Foles win the Super Bowl a few years back.

When you look across the league and the teams that have new “backup” quarterbacks, teams are replicating what the Atlanta Falcons have had for years – a reliable starter who is a veteran leader and will quietly support the starter in order not to create chaos in the locker room.

Dallas added Andy Dalton, the Saints adding Jameis Winston, and the Raiders adding Marcus Mariota.

It seems like the Atlanta Falcons have been at the forefront of this movement and as we saw last year, Schaub played well in the absence of Matt Ryan throwing for almost 500 yards.

The backup quarterback competition this summer will be one to watch with Kurt Benkert coming back from injury after he looked poised to take over as Matt Ryan‘s backup. Even if he does, expect the Falcons to keep Matt Schaub around as Ryan loves having him in the quarterback room.