Atlanta Falcons: Why has there been so much hate towards Desmond Ridder?
Apparently, it is popular to hate Desmond Ridder nowadays. Why? Who knows, especially when you consider that he quarterbacks a team that the general public rarely mentions. It has been frustrating to see all the negativity toward the Atlanta Falcons and their decision to stick with the quarterback they drafted just one year ago.
Does the hate stem from the team's decision to not pursue Lamar Jackson? Does it have to do with fantasy football and Kyle Pitts? Or is it something else?
Why does the media hate Atlanta Falcons unproven QB Desmond Ridder?
Whether it is Steve Smith Sr., the media, or anyone on Twitter (or whatever it is called) there has been a lot of disdain towards Desmond Ridder who is the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback. It really has felt excessive.
What is so infuriating to me is that Desmond Ridder is unproven so why is everyone acting like he is JaMarcus Russell? The fact of the matter is that Ridder could be really good or really bad, no one knows for sure yet social media and media in general act like they know he will be awful.
Bryce Young throws a few interceptions in practice? Social media: "No big deal, he is just learning and will be fine."
Desmond Ridder throws his first incompletion of practice? Social media: "What were the Falcons thinking trusting in such a terrible quarterback who cannot throw an accurate pass to save his life?!"
If you need proof—which you probably don't—here is one of ESPN's top NFL reporters retweeting a clip of one single bad pass to Kyle Pitts.
I don’t ask for much in life but it would be great for someone to throw the ball accurately to Kyle Pitts one time 🙏 https://t.co/Pd6nueIFim
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 31, 2023
Crazy thing about this is that was reportedly Desmond Ridder's only incompletion of the entire day!
Why in the world is all of this happening?
The answer to this question seems to stem from the whole Lamar Jackson saga. The Falcons did not want to pursue Lamar Jackson and even if they did, there was no way the Ravens wouldn't have matched whatever the offer would have been. Everyone tore the team apart and it appears that this has soured them on the Atlanta Falcons.
That is all so unfair to the team and Ridder. Just because the Ravens took way too long to extend Lamar shouldn't mean that the Falcons and their quarterback should be hated.
Sure, Ridder wasn't a first or second-round pick. But do you know who else wasn't? Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Roger Staubach, and many others. And then there were guys like Kurt Warner and Tony Romo who were never even drafted!
There also seems to be an unfair association between Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder. Fantasy owners were so angry that Mariota could not get Kyle Pitts the ball and when you consider the tweet above, it seems like there is a subconscious association when people see Ridder throw one off-target pass.
Ridder has only started four games in his NFL career and he was 2-2 in those games. He might have even been 4-0 if Drake London didn't lose two fumbles. While Ridder was not perfect in any of those games, he still showed substantial improvements in each one. Which begs another question: if he vastly improved in a span of four weeks, then what will he look like after a full offseason?
Hopefully, he will look good enough to shut everyone up because all of the negativity has gotten really old. Since being drafted, I always wanted to see Ridder succeed but with every negative comment made in his direction that only grows. I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way.
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