3 Reasons Desmond Ridder should be the Atlanta Falcons week one starter
By Nick Halden
2. Let Desmond Ridder build chemistry and learn the offense
If Desmond Ridder is your franchise quarterback of the future why not let the rookie build chemistry with his teammates and learn the playbook? Why waste time having Kyle Pitts and Drake London build chemistry with Marcus Mariota only to turn the offense over to Ridder? While there is an argument that allowing Ridder to sit and learn behind Mariota would help his development this is a strategy often used on teams that are in contention, not teams that are completely rebuilding.
How much pressure would really be on Ridder if he started week one? He is a third-round pick who will be on one of the worst rosters in the league. Expectations will be low and Ridder will have a chance to show if he is capable of being a franchise quarterback. We have seen this narrative play out with Sam Darnold and Andrew Luck.
Darnold stepped in with a terrible roster and was unable to elevate the players around him and showed from his first season he isn’t a franchise guy. Andrew Luck, on the other hand, is an elevator a player who comes in and stabilized a struggling franchise and gave his team a chance to win any time he is under center. Atlanta needs to find out which guy Ridder is and that should start from the first snap in week one.