The Atlanta Falcons are making a change at quarterback, with rookie Desmond Ridder taking over as the team’s starter, according to NFL Media.
Veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota has been benched. The switch comes as the Falcons playoff hopes continue to fade as the team has dropped four of their last five games.
The Falcons fell to 5-8 on the season after a 19-16 loss to the Steelers in Week 13. After the game, head coach Arthur Smith did not shut down the possibility of moving on from Mariota and noted that every position would be evaluated.
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“We will have some very intense meetings in the next couple days. There will be changes made. Everything we decide to do, I will try to be as transparent as possible,” Smith said on Monday. The second-year head coach previously deflected any questions related to a potential shift at the quarterback position.
Mariota has struggled to throw the football accurately with any consistency this season.
The Falcons drafted Ridder in the third round out of Cincinnati. He started for four years at Cincinnati and led the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff last season.
Ridder won 44 games at Cincinnati, which is the third most in college football history.
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The rookie was able to get a significant amount of reps in during the preseason but never seemed to be in a competition with Mariota for the starting role during training camp.
Ridder ran the scout team once the NFL regular season kicked off, but he also worked with Mariota and was often seen asking the veteran quarterback questions.
The Tennessee Titans benched Mariota in 2019 in favor of Ryan Tannehill; Arthur Smith served as the team’s offensive coordinator at the time.
The former Oregon standout signed with the Falcons just hours after the franchise traded longtime starter Matt Ryan to the Colts. Ryan requested a trade after the team’s failed pursuit of embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson.
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Mariota’s best performance this year happened in Week 6 against the San Francisco 49ers. He threw two touchdowns, ran for 50 yards and completed just over 92% of his passes on the day.
He was then named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
But the past several weeks have been turbulent for the Heisman Trophy winner. In the past month, Mariota has failed to complete more than 65% of his passes. He has thrown five touchdowns and three interceptions over the last five games.
The quarterback is 184 of 300 for 2,219 yards, 15 touchdowns and 9 interceptions on the season.
Ridder threw for more than 10,000 yards in college. He now has the last four games of the season to begin to try and prove himself at the NFL level.
The Falcons are on a bye week and play the division rival New Orleans Saints on Dec. 18.
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