Entering the season, the Falcons were one of a few teams which were expected to transition away from a veteran quarterback to a rookie at some point during the campaign. That has yet to take place, but the team’s circumstances could change during the bye week. 
When asked about the situation under center, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said that “everything is on the table” following Sunday’s loss to the Steelers (Twitter link via Jeff Schultz of The Athletic). The options he and the coaching staff will weigh during the week off is allowing Marcus Mariota to remain in place as the starter, or handing the reins over to third-round rookie Desmond Ridder.
Mariota, 29, signed a two-year deal this offseason to join the Falcons after they moved on from Matt Ryan and came up short in the bidding war for Deshaun Watson. That allowed him to serve as a No. 1 for the first time since 2019, his final year with the Titans. The former second overall pick has put up numbers essentially in line with his career averages so far, while leading the team to a 5-8 record.
That level of performance led to questions around the league about why he had not been benched yet in favor of Ridder. Widely seen as a temporary hold-in as the starter, Mariota has overseen a run-heavy offense and averaged just over 170 passing yards per game. While the Falcons were able to tread water to begin the year, they have now lost four of their last five.
Nevertheless, Smith indicated just two weeks ago that Mariota would remain the starter as long as Atlanta was in playoff contention. Given the landscape of the NFC South, that may remain the case for several more weeks if the Buccaneers are unable to pull away with their division lead. With four games remaining on the schedule, though, the potential of a postseason berth could add urgency to a swap under center.
Ridder led the Bearcats to an historic CFP playoff appearance last season, but was a member of the underwhelming 2022 class of QB prospects. While that has led to questions about his NFL ceiling, the time for him to begin answering those questions may be coming in the near future.
Mariota is trash, if he continues to run him out there then smith too should be fired at seasons end!
The Falcons made a very mediocre Steeler team look good.
Do the math.
Mediocre? 500 is mediocre. Pittsburgh is bottom third in almost everything
Steelers also played a really tough first-half schedule and are in a pretty good division, and the Falcons didn’t and aren’t.
steelers are only 2 games out of playoffs and have improved significantly over the course of the season.
people are already starting to reminisce over last seasons week 18 drama
Everyone is only 2 games out of the playoffs except for Houston. Steelers offense is 26th and their defense is 24th. Neither is mediocre. I think of mediocre as 500.
I’m just looking at the numbers. Pittsburgh is not mediocre in anything.
You do realize you’ve not only proven OP’s point, but ****ing underlined it for him!
OP? I have no idea who your response was to. If you think Pittsburgh is mediocre, you must be a Steelers fan. They are below average
OP=Original Poster=The original comment you replied to.
I don’t have the energy to explain to you the connection between his original comment, your reply I responded to, and my response. Be a big boy and read it again. Not nearly as difficult as you often make it out to be Champ.
Yep….You’re a Steelers fan. They are the only ones that think the Steelers aren’t a below average football team
Literally was saying the opposite. Reading comprehension truly should not be this hard.
You’re not making any sense brother. First you said that I proved OP point. His point was that the Steelers are mediocre. My point is they are worse than mediocre and the stats prove that. There is no place except Pittsburgh that think the Steelers are mediocre (average). The Patriots, Chargers, Tampa, Washington……those are mediocre teams
The Falcons made the Steelers look good. And the Steelers suck. Therefore the Falcons are trash.
You saying how bad the Steelers are only highlights his ACTUAL point. You’re the one apparently too hung up on the Steelers to let the fact that he said *very mediocre* instead of *not good* go.
Steelers are clearly in your head. You and Brownsbacker should get a room.
I’m an Eagles fan living in Pittsburgh country. You can understand my dislike for the Steelers. It’s great to see so many Steeler fans looking stupid. 11-1 sounds so much better than 5-7, but to listen to the Stoolers, Pittsburgh is a great team. Haha. They aren’t even the best team in their own state
I can’t comment what on what your interactions with folks in the real world are like, but on here you seem to assume anyone commenting about the Steelers is a dumb homer who thinks they’re the best team in the league.
So pardon me if I don’t give you the benefit of the doubt that you aren’t the idiot in those interactions as well.
I just deal in facts. They may be relevant again
It is time. Could’ve been a positive catalyst for the team 2 weeks ago – a la Taylor Heinicke for Washington
Only about 13 weeks too late
Falcons are in a weird spot. They weren’t supposed to be any good this year. They’ve taken almost $81 million in dead money this year. They have one of the least talented defenses in football, much as I like Jarrett, Terrell, and some of their rookies. And Smith has done a good job with this weird offense in the sense that they’ve been middle of the pack in scoring and won a few games, and made creative use of some shaky pieces. But Pitts was wasted until he was injured, London hasn’t been a major focal point, and they’re no closer to a QB answer, which obviously isn’t Mariota. For all we know, Ridder just hasn’t looked good in the building. He would hardly be the first third rounder to be an immediate no (Kellen Mond says hi).
They won’t be in range to draft one of the very top guys. Given the way Smith works with the running game, he might be a great landing spot for one of the more raw guys like Levis or Richardson, who might need to lean on the run more at first. It would certainly be good to get a look at Ridder this year. I get wanting to ride out a team on the skirts of contention, but this team was never realistically going anywhere.
Anyone who drafts Richardson is a complete idiot, the guy absolutely sucks and was way overrated. He is not an nfl qb
He’s also young, very inexperienced, and a rare physical specimen. Someone will take a shot on his physical traits instead of someone more polished and less talented.
And then they’ll play him too soon and wonder why he’s not ready. The physical traits are appealing, but “traits” quarterbacks usually need a perfect situation to develop and it seems like the vast majority of them end up being busts. For every Josh Allen there are probably about 10 Paxton Lynches.
Lynch’s traits were all height and arm. He wasn’t mobile at all. He ran slowly in the pre draft process and he barely had more rushing yards in his whole college career than Richardson has this year.
If Ridder is ready, you play him. If he isn’t, you play Mariota. That was the plan for this season, and they should stick to it. I think the fact that they just lost to a Steeler team in a similar situation, where they have successfully moved from Trubisky to Pickett, is making Falcon fans antsy. But everyone said that Pickett would be NFL ready faster than Ridder, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. Sometimes you have to suffer through a season with a QB you know isn’t your long-term answer.
Definitely get what you’re saying, but in some ways, I think it’s more time sensitive to get a look at Ridder, since moving on from a third rounder after one season is much more viable, whereas Pickett would still be the plan even if he’d sat most of the season.
Coach Smith will give you a good run game, but a bad pass game. hard to win a championship that way.
“everything is on the table”
Exact words used by Ryan Pace while guiding the Bears to a train wreck.
The only other options outside of the current roster that I could see are players released by the Panthers last year and this one – Cam and Baker.