Do Falcons have a sample size big enough to evaluate Desmond Ridder?

Over the bye week and after 13 games, the Falcons elected to replace Marcus Mariota as the starter. Ridder, who was drafted in the third round (74th overall), moved in to the starter’s role after not playing a down this season.

He’s auditioning for the open spot and the unofficial “quarterback of the future” title. The Falcons elected in March to move on from the Matt Ryan era after 14 seasons when they didn’t win the Deshaun Watson derby.

With another 43 plays, Ridder will hit the 250-play mark, and that sample size may be large enough for the Falcons to accurately evaluate and make projections.

“I don’t know what the perfect number is,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “The improvement, functioning, (part of) the job requirement is delivering the football when called on. Again, continue to improve.”

Ridder has completed 54 of 85 passes (63.5%) for 484 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He has a passer rating of 78.7. Mariota was completing 61.3% of his passes and had a passer rating of 88.2.

Ridder has been averaging 161.3 yards passing per game, while Mariota averaged 170.1 yards passing per game.

It must be noted that Mariota had tight end Kyle Pitts available to him.

“You can cut up stats however you need to, but we want to improve in the passing attack,” Smith said. “Be more balanced. I’ve talked about that a lot, being able to win games, he’s done well situationally.”

Ridder did have a costly fumble against the Cardinals, which they turned into a touchdown and a 10-7 lead.

“Same thing we saw early on in his history, his resilience,” Smith said. “That’s part of it. You’re going to have – nothing intentional – he makes a mistake, they take advantage of it, but he’s able to overcome it.”

Ridder has leaned on London, who has caught 19 of 28 targets for 213 yards from Ridder.

Pitts went on injured reserve Nov. 30 and has not played with Ridder.

“Certainly, you’d love to have Kyle out there, but that’s not necessarily what this evaluation is about,” Smith said. “Can he function, week in and week out ... as a high-level starter? That’s what you are looking for. A lot of encouraging signs so far, a lot of things we are going to continue to push.”

Even with Pitts out, Ridder showed that he knows how to use the tight end late against the Cardinals.

On a key third down, in the game-winning drive, he found tight end MyCole Pruitt to pick up the first down that allowed the Falcons to run down the clock before Younghoe Koo’s 21-yard field goal.

“We could have gone super conservative, run it and see what happens,” Smith said. “Fortunately, we used a timeout. The percentages. ... We decided to be aggressive and trust Desmond and this unit.”

That moment was not too big for Ridder.

“I like the way he’s been operating,” Smith said. “I mean, this was three games in a row where I thought in the fourth quarter when you need him, that he’s been (there). He’s had great poise and demeanor.”

Sometimes, the tight end can be a young quarterback’s best friend.

“We put a lot on the plates of our tight ends,” Smith said. “MyCole was a guy that I coached in Tennessee. We picked him up in 2018 off Houston’s practice squad. Mike Vrabel had some experience with him, and we lost Delanie Walker.”

Pruitt also spent some time with Minnesota and Chicago.

“Sometimes it takes those guys some time to find a role,” Smith said. ”It’s a tough position to play, especially when you’re talking about fitting into our scheme. You’re talking about a guy who may be a receiver coming out of college, and you are trying to put in in-line or vice versa.”

Pruitt, a former fifth-round pick by the Vikings, could be a big part of Ridder’s future.

“I think he’s a very smart and instinctive player,” Smith said. “He’s played some meaningful snaps for us. He had a pretty bad injury last year. That was part of why he hadn’t signed with anybody. He’s taken advantage of the opportunity here. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of trust in him.

“Clearly, Desmond does, too.”

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Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule

Sept. 11 Saints 27, Falcons 26

Sept. 18 Rams 31, Falcons 27

Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23

Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20

Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15

Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14

Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17

Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT

Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17

Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15

Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24

Nov. 27 Commanders 19, Falcons 13

Dec. 4 Steelers 19, Falcons 16

BYE WEEK

Dec. 18 Saints 21, Falcons 18

Dec. 24 Ravens 17, Falcons 9

Jan. 1 Falcons 20, Cardinals 19

Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.