It could have been oh-so different.
It could have been Matt Ryan.
It could have been Deshaun Watson.
It will now be Marcus Mariota.
But the nature of the beast in the NFL - or at least in the situation the Atlanta Falcons have crafted for themselves - it could be "none of the above.''
"I would say at any position on our depth chart, it’s all the same that right now we’re going to have going into camp we’re going to have 90 players all competing to be the 53 plus 16," GM Terry Fontenot said, via PFT.
Any position. Including quarterback. Which puts rookie third-rounder Desmond Ridder in competition for the job.
Had Atlanta not tried to land star quarterback Watson before he passed his hometown team to instead accept a trade to the Cleveland Browns, Ryan would still be here. Had Watson bought what the Falcons were selling, they would have all the answers at QB - assuming Watson avoids punishment, from a legal perspective and a league perspective.
Atlanta ultimately sent Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts and signed Mariota to be its new starter ... and that's still the case. But ideally now, Mariota is the bridge.
And Ridder is the future.
That is, unless he's the present.
Ridder
Watson and Ryan
Falcons rookies
"On a weekly basis, they’re going to be competing to get a jersey on game day to be one of the 48,'' Fontenot said. "That’s truly how we see this. We’ll continue to add competition at every position and that’s what’s really exciting about this."
It should please Atlanta fans that both Mariota and Ridder seem to be approaching this competition exactly right. Mariota says he is here to first win the job, but also to help mentor Ridder. And Ridder, driven by the emotion of being passed over until Round 3, says he's going to prove those teams "F'ed up.''
"He does have a chip on his shoulder, he always has felt like he has something to prove, and he’s one of those guys that whether he goes in the first round or the seventh round, he’s going to be that type of worker that brings it every day,'' Fontenot said. "We’re excited to take Desmond at that time, excited about the time we spent with him, and we’re excited to get him here so we can go to work."
Work that might develop from yet another "could'' into the Falcons having their QB of the future - and the present.
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