Atlanta Falcons fans finally got a look at Desmond Ridder and they love what they see
Leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft, there was a lot of people wondering when the Falcons might draft a quarterback. It was not a matter of if, but when.
The signing of Marcus Mariota prior to the draft gave them more flexibility in the draft, they would not have to press to take one and their patience seemed to pay off as they broke a long drought of quarterbacks being taken by selecting Desmond Ridder out of Cincinnati.
Not many people have criticized the pick since it was not a huge risk. It was just a third-round pick, so what if it doesn’t turn out, at the very least they have a backup quarterback for four years, but the returns you could get are sky high.
It truly was a low-risk, high-reward selection.
Finally, we got to see him in action and he was the quarterback for the Falcons’ offense on all but one drive.
He had a couple hiccups, but it was his first game in the pros and there were a lot more positives to take away than negatives.
It has been a while since the Falcons’ preseason was this much fun to watch, all thanks to the new quarterbacks.
Anyhow, here are three positives we can take away from Desmond Ridder’s debut in the NFL:
First positive for the Atlanta Falcons’ rookie QB: Desmond Ridder ignored a couple of mistakes, played with pure poise, and showed that he can handle the mental part of the game
The Falcons might have struck gold in finding a quarterback that has the mental part of the game under control.
A quick disclaimer though, this whole list is based on one game in the preseason, which is not the same as the regular season, obviously. While he looked great in the first game, we need to take it with a grain of salt. Plenty of players have been preseason stars but could never figure it out when the bright lights are on. Nevertheless, this is still football at a professional level and it was a good sign.
Anyways, from the very first snap, Desmond Ridder ran out there with pure conviction and confidence. There was just something about the vibe he gave off, almost like he was telling everybody on the field that he is better than him, which is the confidence you need.
It really seemed like he had been there a thousand times before.
Not only does that help your play but it also shows your teammates that you have trust in yourself and them.
On the two passes that should have been interceptions — one which was negated by a controversial roughing the passer penalty, the other was simply dropped — he did not let that get in his head. It was as if nothing happened and on both occasions, he ended up throwing a touchdown to end both of those drives.
Not only did he overcome a couple ill-advised passes, but he also overcame drops by his receivers and overall ineffectiveness by them.
He played under control, when he did not see anyone open, he did not hesitate to gain yards on the ground. He did not take any sacks, he lead the team in rushing, he led the team in passing yards, and most importantly, he led the team to a win.
The kid just looked like he was just taking a stroll through the park on a Friday night.
Second positive for the Atlanta Falcons’ rookie QB: Desmond Ridder went out there and took his check-downs, scrambled when he needed to, and refused to end a play with negative yards
One thing you worry about with rookie QBs is that they get way too confident and try to force passes into tight windows when there is a checkdown right in front of them, but for the Falcons’ rookie quarterback, that was not the case.
Think about how he just took what the defense gave him throughout the game. He would survey the field, look for a checkdown, and if that was not an option then he would just take it himself. Even in the rare case where the defense had him trapped, he was okay with simply throwing the ball away.
What that tells you is that he has listened to the coaches and proven to them that he can play small ball. He did not try to do too much.
His two throws that could have been interceptions were just short throws, it is not like he just heaved the ball up to the defense. That is something that he can easily clean up and likely will as he gets more experience.
Do you want to see deep shots every so often? For sure, but constantly doing that will just put you in bad situations on third down.
Ridder also had numerous times where he — much like Marcus Mariota — recognized that the blitz was coming and maneuvered his way through to pick up positive yards. That is why Arthur Smith brought in two mobile guys, he wants a quarterback who can get out of a play that the defense has blown up.
He was also playing behind a shaky offensive line but managed to not get sacked a single time. That is impressive.
Other than a fumble that he recovered himself, Desmond Ridder did not have a dropback that resulted in negative yards. That will make your coaches happy.
Third positive for the Atlanta Falcons’ rookie QB: Desmond Ridder showed he has a rocket arm, that he can throw the ball with touch, and that he can make some Patrick Mahomes-esque throws
Let’s start off with a play where the Falcons ran an RPO and Desmond Ridder rifled a pass to Geronimo Allison who basically dropped it. He threw a lightning bolt into the hands of Allison in the middle of the field. That is something that is valuable when you run RPOs because you need to be able to rocket a ball into a tight space in the middle of the field. Ridder showed he can do that.
There were also numerous other plays where it looked like he effortlessly threw a dart to his receiver. The arm strength is there, maybe not to the degree of Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes, but it is plenty good.
One play that really stood out was his short pass to Parker Hesse for his first passing touchdown.
It may not look like anything on paper, but it was a beautiful throw that landed in the arms of Hesse. He ran a play-action and just flicked the ball up over the defender and dropped it right into Hesse’s outstretched hands.
Again, on paper, it just goes down as a one-yard touchdown pass but on film, it shows you a guy who understands when to rifle a ball or lollipop it up and over defenders. His touch on the play was brilliant.
The last part is that he showed he can make some throws that very few quarterbacks can make. Patrick Mahomes has made many highlight reel plays where he will launch a ball off-balance and somehow it will be right on target — well, Desmond Ridder showed he can do some of that too.
The two plays that you should focus on were the pass to Geronimo Allison that got the offense down to the one-yard line, as well as his final pass that ended up being the game-winning touchdown.
On the pass to Allison for 20 yards, Ridder came off a play-action to his right and managed to throw a dime to Allison while throwing across his body. People need to realize how hard that throw is. To be able to come off a play-action from the other side, turn your body, and throw across your body right on the money is just special.
Some might say the pass was underthrown but check again, he purposely underthrew it so that the defense had no chance to make a play on the ball.
Then with the game-winning play, he knew he had to at least give his receiver a chance. He was under pressure and managed to throw a pass flat-footed from about the 35-yard line into the endzone on target. Again, that is something that very few quarterbacks can do and he just did it on a game-winning play in his first NFL game……
This kid has some special talent, and I for one, cannot wait to watch him during the final two preseason games.