The Atlanta Falcons must sign or draft competition for Mariota

Despite the fact they signed Marcus Mariota the Atlanta Falcons still should be searching for an answer at the position. It is worth noting Mariota lost his job while working with Arthur Smith to an underwhelming Ryan Tannehill. Mariota struggled to stay healthy and live up to the promise he showed in his rookie and sophomore seasons.

Mariota has 13,437-career passing yards and 77-touchdowns compared to 45-interceptions. Mariota is far from an established quarterback and despite the signing Atlanta should continue to explore all of their options.

Marcus at best is a bridge starter until Atlanta is able to find a franchise quarterback. Mariota shouldn’t be the immediate answer but given competition through future signings or the draft. There isn’t anything Mariota has put on tape that should hand him the Atlanta Falcons starting job.

Marcus Mariota is a draft bust that deserves a chance to start but the Atlanta Falcons must give him competition

The best path for Atlanta is taking a shot at finding their quarterback of the future in the draft and allowing a rookie to compete with Mariota for the starting role. If the rookie wins the job Mariota can still play a role with the offense as he did with the Raiders.

His best skill set has long been his explosive speed and ability to make something happen outside of the pocket Atlanta needs Mariota to use this skill set behind an offensive line that had a hard time blocking the air in front of them at times during the 2021 season.

Mariota is a huge downgrade from Ryan aside from this obvious skill set. He will give the Falcons a player capable of running for a first down or making a would-be tackler miss a skill set that Ryan lacked. Though in fairness to Ryan he used every bit of speed and athleticism he did have to scramble anytime he was forced to.

Signing Mariota is solid but it shouldn’t be an answer for a team who should leave every option on the table. Finding a franchise quarterback is close to impossible, even finding a bridge quarterback is difficult. Mariota shouldn’t be the easy answer he appears to be but given plenty of competition and forced to compete for the starting job.