In 2022, quarterback Desmond Ridder was just the second player taken at his position in the NFL Draft behind Kenny Pickett. Yes, it was an extremely weak quarterback class. Ridder, the former Cincinnati Bearcat, was taken by the Atlanta Falcons that year in the third round and now he’s heading back home and signing a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media broke the news.
“Former #Falcons starting QB Desmond Ridder is signing with the #Bengals, per source. Some experienced competition behind Joe Burrow,” Pelissero posted on X.
It’s been a mixed bag of bad and good for Ridder in his young NFL career. In his second year in Atlanta, he started 13 game and won six of them. He completed a respectable 64.2% of his passes (you seeing this, Anthony Richardson?) for 2,836 yards with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions that season.
In 2024, Ridder was with the Las Vegas Raiders and it went about as well as you would think. He started one game and appeared in five others, throwing for 458 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. So, as it looks right now, Joe Burrow‘s starting job should be safe.
What does the Bengals quarterback room look like now with Desmond Ridder?
One would have to think that Ridder has a puncher’s chance of making the Bengals’ roster out of training camp. Right now, the other quarterbacks on the roster are Jake Browning, Logan Woodside and Auburn undrafted free agent Payton Thorne. Honk if any of those guys excite you.
Browning is in his third year out of the University of Washington and is now 29-years old. He was listed as the No. 2 quarterback on the Bengals’ depth chart until the Ridder signing, which already has the latter penciled in as the backup. Browning lost his spot on the depth chart and didn’t even do anything wrong at practice today.
Woodside was a seventh-round draft pick of the Bengals back in 2018, but didn’t get into an NFL game until 2020 with the Tennessee Titans. He’s now 30-years old, has never started a game and appeared in just 13 total after spending the last two seasons with the Falcons.
In short, regardless of what you think of Ridder, the Bengals were extremely wise to add him when they did.
Burrow better not get hurt
You can make this statement about 99.9% of NFL teams (if such a percentage of 32 teams even existed), but the Bengals absolutely cannot afford to lose Burrow, even if it’s just for a few games.
Currently, Burrow is the only thing standing between the Bengals having a respectably disappointing 9-8 season sans the playoffs (like 2024) and making one of the top two selections in next year’s NFL Draft. Obviously, if your starting QB misses any significant time, you are likely cooked. Most NFL seasons don’t come with Jeff Hostetler and/or Nick Foles-type endings. I wouldn’t even bank on going undefeated with Earl Morrall starting nine games for the Miami Dolphins like he did in 1972.
But, it’s not uncommon for your guy to miss a few games here and there and in that case you need your backup to hold down the fort. Ridder is a marked improvement over Browning and Woodside and might be able to win a game or two during the season should Burrow miss some time.
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