3 Reasons the Atlanta Falcons avoided landing Trey Lance

2. If Ridder fails the team will turn to Taylor Heinicke

This goes hand in hand with the first reason with the team clearly making a push to win. Desmond Ridder has looked much further in his development and far more polished in a limited sample size compared to Trey Lance. If, however, the team was to deal with an injury to Desmond or the quarterback falls below expectations it is going to be Taylor's team.

If you're trying to win games with this roster in Arthur Smith's system you have a far better chance with Heinicke as your starter than Lance. Trey has a far higher ceiling with abilities that Heinicke can't come close to, however, right away Heinicke is the better starter.

If Atlanta is in a position to turn to another starter the team is obviously struggling and Taylor is your best chance of limiting turnovers playing within Smith's system and going on a mid or late-season run. With an easy schedule in a bad division, the bar is very low for the Falcons.

In the AFC perhaps you would feel the need to take the risk and swing big when you are expecting to up against Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, and Aaron Rodgers. But in a very open NFC the Falcons simply need a capable starter to help the franchise take a step forward in 2023.