5 areas Desmond Ridder must improve to become Falcons’ franchise QB

4. Desmond Ridder needs to improve his running ability

If there was one disappointment with the Falcons going from Marcus Mariota to Desmond Ridder, it was the quarterback run game.

Fans are quick to point out that Ridder doesn’t have the same speed that Mariota has but are we so certain about that? Sure, there is a difference between game speed and a forty time but if we do look at raw data, Ridder’s forty time was just .04 seconds slower than Mariota, who ran his nearly eight years ago.

Ridder has speed, but that was rarely shown during his first four starts. He certainly doesn’t have the agility that Marcus Mariota has but he still has more than enough athleticism to run Arthur Smith’s offense.

He only had 64 rushing yards on 16 attempts in four games, most of which came in his first game. That needs to improve and much of that comes down to making quick decisions. He was hesitant to tuck the ball and take off, he needs to make his decision and go.