Ridder simply needs to be capable to lock up starting job

The debate of the Atlanta Falcons off-season has been whether or not the team made the right decision starting Desmond Ridder. Desmond clearly was underwhelming in his first four starts not making it clear he was a franchise quarterback but doing nothing to endanger this opinion either taking care of the football and consistently putting the ball where it needed to be.

While it would have been nice to land a Lamar Jackson or another star quarterback that option clearly wasn't there for the Falcons. The team only had three paths to choose from overpaying a veteran bridge option, drafting the third-best prospect at quarterback, or rolling with Desmond for the 2023 season.

Inserting Ridder as the starter allowed the Falcons to save a lot of cap space they used to build a complete roster. One they couldn't have if they had gone out and spent on one of the top quarterbacks in free agency.

The bar for Ridder is extremely low as well with the Falcons turning from Marcus Mariota to Ridder in an offense that often will be based around Desmond simply handing the ball off. For Ridder to lock up the starting job the second-year quarterback doesn't need 300-yard passing games every week.

Ridder simply needs to be capable of protecting the football and hitting the open throws allowing the Atlanta run game to keep rolling. This illustrates how low the bar is at the quarterback position right now for Atlanta and how little Ridder truly needs to do to have a great deal of success.

Desmond is going to be Atlanta's starter unless there are major turnover issues it is only then that Smith should consider turning to backup Taylor Heinicke. This an unlikely scenario for a team that clearly made the right decision starting Ridder and focusing not on chasing a small upgrade but on building a team that can win now.