After being selected in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Desmond Ridder was a walking disaster for the Atlanta Falcons. The Cincinnati product started 17 games across two seasons with the Dirty Birds, and turned the ball over 24 times in 15 starts in 2023.
Ridder was so bad to the point where he only lasted two seasons with the Falcons and was cut loose by a fourth NFL team during Tuesday's roster deadline. He became a cautionary tale for Day 2 quarterbacks: gamble on the wrong player and you can set your franchise back years.
Before bringing in Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr last offseason, the Falcons were in quarterback purgatory—and that’s exactly where the New Orleans Saints find themselves currently. Despite selecting Louisville's Tyler Shough in the second round in April’s draft, the Saints named 2024 fifth-rounder Spencer Rattler their Week 1 starter against the Cardinals—and neither of them are particularly enticing options.
Saints fans will learn soon enough that Spencer Rattler isn’t an NFL caliber starter
The 24-year-old opened his rookie season as the backup to Derek Carr, but when the veteran signal-caller got hurt, the South Carolina product replaced him as the QB1. He appeared in seven games in 2024, starting six while compiling an 0-6 record as starter.
Additionally, his five interceptions and 5.8 yards per attempt did little to induce confidence. Yet when the Saints selected a 25-year-old with a Day 2 pick, they opted to sit him. Shough is so old that he was Justin Herbert’s backup at Oregon—just let that sink in for a second. And he didn't do much to inspire confidence in the preseason.
In the modern NFL, it is normal to sit a quarterback if they need additional development, but that isn’t a luxury you can afford an older QB. With Cousins and Penix it was different, because Atlanta had a superior stopgap option, but benching a quarterback who is approaching their 26th birthday as a rookie is straight up roster mismanagement.
Mickey Loomis was once regarded as one of the best GM’s in football, but has seen his reputation plummet in recent seasons. But then again, draft whiffs like Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner will do that to you. At least Terry Fontenot has the Falcons in a better spot than their archrivals after the Ridder whiff.
Saints fans should be wary. Unless the team recalibrates its approach to rectify their post-Brees woes under center, the team might again be selecting in the top 10 of the NFL Draft—and could address the position for the fourth consecutive draft.
And if it plays out the way fans expect, then in an ironic twist, the Falcons will have the last laugh.