Atlanta Falcons: A.J. McCarron can still win QB2 spot

The preseason in the NFL is a perfect nest for overreactions, especially when it comes to Atlanta Falcons fans.

The Falcons rolled out to play the Titans without their probable day one starters, thus making the evaluation process that much more difficult. A.J. McCarron was standing behind a patchwork offensive line, that was literally thrown around all game, no matter the combination of players.

The Atlanta Falcons should still give A.J. McCarron a good amount of snaps the rest of the preseason, he is their best option when it comes to the backup quarterback position.

Listen, to sit here and say that A.J. McCarron had a good night as the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons would be naïve, but to also say that he had a fair shot at showing himself to the coaching staff would also not be fair.

All around it is safe to say it was a horrendous showing by the offense, which makes fair individual assessments of players virtually impossible.

When the offensive line cannot protect for two seconds, there is not much a quarterback can do. McCarron was given no help when it came to going through his progressions and having the normal amount of time to find the open guy.

Now with that said, he did have that one awful interception, where he threw it straight to the Titans defender on third and long. That was not a good look. The other interception that was called back was a result of him having his arm hit, causing the ball to flutter.

Everyone has been saying that the Atlanta Falcons’ backup quarterback should be Feleipe Franks, but it is way too early to say that. The team needs to get a better look at both of the guys before making a decision, which hopefully they will have in the last two games.

Let’s not act like Feleipe Franks had the greatest night ever. While he did show some better throws than that of McCarron and also being hurt by a couple drops, he still only completed two passes. The difference between the two was the running ability. McCarron lacks that ability obviously, and Franks was able to evade the pressure.

In the regular season, the role of the backup quarterback is to come in, in the event of injury, and play with the starting offense. This means they will likely have better protection than they did on Friday night, and they will have to rely on their arm more than their legs. McCarron has the advantage in that category because he is a veteran and has played meaningful snaps.

Atlanta Falcons fans need to curb their thoughts about A.J. McCarron for a week or two. We need to see more of him before coming to a final conclusion. Was he bad on Friday night? Most definitely, but that does not mean he cannot show why he has been a starting quarterback in the past.

There were also many other things to be excited about when looking at the other side of the ball.