Atlanta Falcons: Three better backup QB options
By Joe Beasley
The Atlanta Falcons made their roster cuts on Saturday and much to the dismay of fans, Matt Schaub is again the backup quarterback.
Many of the cuts weren’t a surprise to Atlanta Falcons fans since the majority of them were this year’s undrafted free agents. One name that should come as a surprise is Kurt Benkert. Benkert was having a promising preseason last year before he got injured and missed the rest of the preseason as well as the regular season.
The Atlanta Falcons current backup quarterback has been the league for 16 years and is 39 years old, his time in the league has come and gone. Instead of having a senior citizen hold the clipboard on the sidelines, why not have a young guy there who can learn on the job by watching a great quarterback work like Matt Ryan.
While he’s familiar with the system that’s in place right now, he shouldn’t have taken a roster spot from a young player who only has room to get better. Matt Ryan doesn’t need a peer coach, so keeping Matt Schaub around isn’t a necessity.
This is the perfect time to move on from Matt Schaub. There are plenty of young quarterbacks in this league looking for a spot with lots of untapped potentials. Here are three of the quarterback the Atlanta Falcons should give a shot to and get Matt Schaub out of here.
Related Story. Matt Schaub ranked in bottom third of backup NFL QB’s. light
All three of these guys are currently on another team practice squad but could be signed to the Atlanta Falcons active roster immediately.
Tyler Huntley
Tyler Huntley was an undrafted free agent out of Utah. Huntley eventually got picked up by the Baltimore Ravens but decided to cut ties when it was time to trim the rosters. Huntley would’ve have brought an element to the Falcons they haven’t had in a while at the quarterback position…mobility.
While Huntley struggles with his decision-making accuracy at times, surrounding him with a target like Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley could make life easier for him until everything else catches up.
Kurt Benkert
Benkert should’ve never been released in the first place but here we are. The last time we saw Benkert on the field, he looked good albeit it was during the preseason. He was able to make NFL throws coming into the league and has great mechanics.
His biggest weakness was his gunslinger mentality but who doesn’t love a gunslinger? The Falcons missed a chance on developing a young quarterback in their system, something they haven’t had since….well Matt Ryan.
While the Falcons have brought him back as one of two practice squad quarterbacks, he should be on the Falcons active roster.
Initial Atlanta Falcons depth chart has several surprises. dark. Next
Devlin Hodges
Devlin Hodges is just a second-year player in the NFL. Last year as a rookie for the Steelers, he saw action in eight games and started six of them. The Steelers were 3-3 in those six starts.
He’s a good athlete and incredibly smart, two traits you would definitely want on a quarterback. In college, he was a record-setting FCS quarterback who made the best of the talent around him and played well enough to catch the eye of quite a few NFL teams.
He could learn a lot about the NFL game by being an understudy to future Hall of Fame quarterback like Matt Ryan.