FLOWERY BRANCH — With the Falcons’ offseason set to conclude with a team-building golf outing, rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder has picked up the offense.
When the Falcons reconvene for training camp in late July, that should help Ridder improve his play and give him a shot to compete with Marcus Mariota for the starting quarterback position.
“I would just say the overall knowledge of the offense,” said Ridder, who was taken in the third round of the NFL draft from Cincinnati. “I thought, honestly, that I was going to come in and struggle a little bit, but we’re almost all the way through all of our installs … putting in all those checks. I’ve got a good grasp of it. So, that kind of surprised me.”
Ridder thought it would take longer.
“But I’ve been able to pick up on it faster than I thought,” Ridder said.
Ridder said the information all started to coalesce in his brain last week.
“It was just the flow of it,” Ridder said. “The way it’s coming out, my sentences in the huddle, to the command that I had at the line of scrimmage, to seeing the defense, but also seeing the offense. You know, everything just came to me.”
Falcons coach Arthur Smith, not one to dole out compliments to rookies, gave Ridder credit for mastering the playbook.
“The guy has been doing a good job,” Smith said. “He’s very intelligent. There are a lot of things that you can’t see. ... There’s a lot of things that go into quarterback and with what we ask him to do. He’s going to continue to improve there ... (but) what he’s done to impress me as a rookie is really from the neck up.”
Over the two days of minicamp Tuesday and Wednesday, Ridder had some good moments, but the seven-on-seven passing drills haven’t clicked all the way for him yet. During one session Wednesday, he was 1-for-4 passing, with three dropped passes.
“How he’s operating when we do these rookie walk-throughs,” Smith said. “Installations on the field and his command. Then you’re betting on some of the physical things with time to catch up. He’s light years ahead of most young quarterbacks I’ve been with from the neck up. I will give him that compliment.”
Second-year tight end Kyle Pitts has been impressed, too.
“I think that Desmond has done a great job,” Pitts said.
Getting the play-calling down was the toughest part of the offseason for Ridder. He had a formula and used technology to help him learn.
“Going home at night getting on your voice recorder, just sitting there and reading the script into the voice recorder and then putting your air pods back in, then reading it back out,” Ridder said. “It’s kind of what the helmet is to us. So, just being able to pick them up and spit them out has been my challenge.
“He's light years ahead of most young quarterbacks I've been with from the neck up. I will give him that compliment."
“That’s where I needed to grow the most throughout this entire thing. I feel like I’ve done a great job of that. I feel like I’ve done a great job of preparing, learning and understanding the offense. The terminology and verbiage comes out a lot easier.”
Mariota has not had a problem being a mentor to Ridder.
“Just the way he approaches the game,” Ridder said. “Meeting with him in the morning and just going over the script, how he talks about learning the plays and to the simple way of how he takes care of his body. What he does not only on the field, obviously ... picking up little tips and tricks of how he manages coverages and different things like that.”
Ridder, after guiding Cincinnati to a 44-5 record and a College Football Playoff berth, has no problem with attempting to prove he’s an NFL starter.
“No, that’s just, it’s just the way of the game,” Ridder said. “That’s just how it goes. We’re coming into this league, and it is a competitive league. Not only at our position, but all the teams in general. So, at the end of the day, whatever your role is, you’re competing in some way or another.”
Ridder and Mariota will get most of the reps when training camp starts because the Falcons do not plan to bring in a fourth quarterback, the proverbial “camp arm” to help with some of the passing drills.
“In all seriousness, you don’t have enough reps to go around,” Smith said. “Some people like it for the extra arm. To learn a system. They can go down and throw in different drills, like in one-on-ones. There is just not a lot of reps.”
No. 3 quarterback Feleipe Franks is working as a tight end and can still help with some passing drills.
“Marcus and Desmond need to get as many reps as possible,” Smith said.
There no longer are two practices a day, so Smith is adjusting with the times.
“The rules are what they are,” Smith said. “You don’t have the two full practices. It’s harder to manage those reps. Some people do it, but that’s our philosophy. We’ve got enough ex-quarterbacks on the (coaching) staff. They can throw in one-on-one if they had to.”
Offensive coordinator Dave Ragone and wide receivers coach T.J. Yates each played quarterback in the NFL.
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