Falcons' Desmond Ridder: Has Blank's confidence
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Tuesday that he feels "pretty strongly" that Ridder is "going to be our quarterback of the future," Josh Kendall of The Athletic reports.
Head coach Arthur Smith named Ridder as the team's starting quarterback in late March, two weeks after the team signed Taylor Heinicke to a two-year, $14 million contract. The second-year pro seems to be making a good impression in training camp, but there's still a lot that can go wrong with a relatively unproven young quarterback who has one of the better backups in the league behind him. Even if his standing atop the depth chart is truly secure this summer, Ridder won't be long for the starting job come September if he doesn't play well. Ridden has several things working in his favor, including ample collegiate experience as a starter, an Atlanta offensive line that improved greatly last season and a supporting cast of skill-position players that includes top-10 picks from each of the last three NFL Drafts (tight end Kyle Pitts, wideout Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson). It doesn't hurt to have the support of the team owner either, though Blank is 80 years old and seemingly not quite as involved with the team's day-to-day operations as he once was.
