3. Desmond Ridder
Desmond Ridder looked lost in his first game as the starter on the road in New Orleans and clearly was outplayed by Andy Dalton. Even for a rookie making his first start it isn’t an ideal way to begin one’s career losing to an average quarterback against a hated division rival failing to throw for 100 yards in a passing league against a struggling secondary.
Each week Ridder improved, however, taking a step forward clearly in each of his four starts. That improvement was noticeable but still had the Falcons in close games against David Blough and Tyler Huntley before Ridder blew a resting Bucs team off the field.
The progression and growth were there for a quarterback who looked overwhelmed in week one but to keep the starting job there will have to be a drastic improvement in the 2023 season. Atlanta needs to build a team that allows Ridder to simply play point guard as they had hoped Mariota was capable of in the 2022 season. Ridder is going to face a lot of pressure this off-season but has the benefit of working with his teammates as the starter and a full year to get ready to take that next step forward.