The national feeling around the Atlanta Falcons offense is the unit will have more weapons in 2023. But there’s still a giant question mark around quarterback Desmond Ridder.
The NFL analysts at CBS Sports shared this opinion. On the company’s list of the league’s top offensive ‘triplets,’ the Falcons moved up six spots. But they remained in the bottom third of the NFL at No. 26.
“How you feel about this ranking will likely depend almost entirely on how you feel about Ridder. Did you love him coming into last year’s draft? Not much has happened to dissuade you of that opinion,” CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin wrote. “Were you not so high on him? Same story.
“Most quarterbacks drafted in the third round do not become starter-quality players, though, and it seems like our panel expects that to hold true with Ridder, which drags down the ranking of a team that has drafted two explosive weapons in the top 10 in recent years.”
A panel of 16 NFL analysts ranked each team’s offensive ‘triplet’ at CBS Sports. The highest ranking the Falcons received was No. 21 while the lowest was No. 29.
Last season, Atlanta’s offensive ‘triplet’ average ranked them last on the list.
Quarterback Desmond Ridder has received a fair amount of praise recently. But concluding that Ridder is dragging the team’s ‘triplet’ ranking is a fair assessment. The Falcons have exciting young playmakers on offense. However, the unknown around Ridder will simply scare analysts away from holding the offense in higher regard.
But what’s interesting about the Falcons’ ‘triplet’ is CBS Sports didn’t include arguably the team’s best offensive player from last season in the group.
Joining Ridder, CBS Sports labeled running back Bijan Robinson and tight end Kyle Pitts the team’s ‘triplet,’ excluding wide receiver Drake London.
But it was London who led the Falcons with 866 receiving yards
Even running backs Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson could feel slighted. Allgeier rushed for 1,000 yards last season while Patterson has 1,983 yards from scrimmage combined the past two seasons.
Ridder, though, is the key to the Falcons climbing any ‘triplet’ rankings ahead of next season.
