Taylor Heinicke replaced Desmond Ridder in the second half of the Atlanta Falcons‘ Week 8 win over the Tennessee Titans, but head coach Arthur Smith suggested that change was health-related (even though Ridder had cleared concussion testing).
On Wednesday, Smith announced that Heinicke will start for the Falcons when they face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Why did Atlanta bench Ridder, and will he ever return to Atlanta’s starting lineup?
Why the Falcons Benched Desmond Ridder
Smith was careful to label Heinicke as the Falcons’ starter “just for this week,” so Ridder may be able to regain his QB1 job at some point.
While Atlanta is still billing the move to Heinicke as concussion-related, Ridder has been medically cleared and will serve as the club’s backup on Sunday.
MORE: Atlanta Falcons Depth Chart
The Falcons are 4-4 and sitting in first place in the NFC South, but Ridder and the team’s offense haven’t played much of a role in that performance. Atlanta ranks 20th in yards per play (5.1), 27th in points per game (17.3), and hasn’t scored more than 25 points all season.
Ridder has shown flashes of ability, but he also leads the NFL with 12 turnovers this season, including seven over his last three games. He’s a bottom-barrel performer in nearly every quarterback metric, including EPA per play (21st), QBR (24th), sack rate (25th), and touchdown rate (27th).
Coach Smith provides an update on the quarterback position pic.twitter.com/EqOlB6NRib
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 1, 2023
Ridder’s back-breaking mistakes contributed to his removal from the starting lineup. Heinicke went 12 of 21 for 175 yards and a touchdown after replacing Ridder on Sunday, guiding the Falcons to 20 second-half points.
“This isn’t foreign territory to me,” Heinicke said this week. “I’ve lived this the last two years. They brought me here to back up Des and help in any way. And if he goes down for any reason, to go in there and do that.”
Heinicke, the NFL’s second-highest-paid backup QB, became the Washington Commanders’ primary starter in 2021 after Ryan Fitzpatrick suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1. He helped Washington to an NFC East title before losing to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round.
Last season, Heinicke again became the Commanders’ QB1 when Carson Wentz went to injured reserve in Week 7. He held the job until being benched in favor of Wentz in Week 16.
Like Ridder, Heinicke has been known to give the ball away. Among quarterbacks that attempted at least 500 passes from 2021-22, Heinicke had the NFL’s seventh-highest interception rate.
If Heinicke can limit his self-inflicted errors and get the ball to Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, he can potentially hold down Atlanta’s starting job for the rest of the season.
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