Falcons Free Agency: Sam Darnold vs. Desmond Ridder at QB?
The Atlanta Falcons are rumored to be monitoring the QB market, and ESPN believes it would make sense for them to go after Sam Darnold.
“He's a good mover with arm talent and second-reaction ability, but we still see some limitations late in the down, where his decision-making declines,” ESPN said.
Slotting in as the publication's 49th-best free agent, it views Darnold as a high end backup quarterback that can compete for a starting job.
Since being selected No. 3 overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL draft, Darnold hasn’t lived up to the ‘can’t-miss’ label some scouts put on him back when he was in college.
If Darnold signs with Atlanta, he’ll be competing against second year quarterback Desmond Ridder.
The Falcons drafted Ridder in the third round of last year's NFL draft and In his four games as their starter, he went 2-2, completing 63.5 percent of his passes for 708 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and put up an average quarterback rating of 99.2 in the two games he won to close out the regular season.
On the other side of this potential competition sits Darnold. In six starts for the Panthers last season, Darnold went 4-2 completing 58.6 percent of his passes for 1,143 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions while posting the highest average quarterback rating of his career at 92.6.
No matter who ultimately winds up starting in Atlanta expect head coach Arthur Smith to prioritize developing a more well-rounded offense after being forced to rely heavily on the run game a season ago.
With players like Darnold and his fellow 2018 draft class alum Lamar Jackson linked to the Falcons, Ridder’s starting job is anything but safe as this offseason continues to unfold.
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