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Falcons QB Desmond Ridder named fantasy sleeper by PFF

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The Atlanta Falcons’ veteran players arrived for the start of training camp on Tuesday. While we’re still over a month away from the 2023 regular season, most fantasy football drafts will take place long before Week 1 rolls around.

After losing fantasy appeal in recent years, the Falcons have acquired some high-upside players in Kyle Pitts, Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier. Plus, Drake London, Younghoe Koo and Cordarrelle Patterson should all be fantasy relevant this season.

Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder is a name that you don’t hear mentioned very often in fantasy football circles, but maybe it’s time we start talking about him. Pro Football Focus seems to think so, naming Ridder as its sleeper QB for the 2023 season:

Aided by elite athleticism, the 6-foot-3, 207-pound quarterback trampled college defenses as a four-year starter in Cincinnati, never finishing below 5.5 yards per rushing attempt, despite carrying the ball more than 85 times per year.

On an albeit small sample size, Ridder’s bulldozed (4.0 yards per rushing attempt) his way to NFL success, ranking top two in missed tackles forced per rushing attempt (0.31) and yards after contact per rushing attempt (4.0) among 45 NFL quarterbacks with at least 15 rushing attempts in 2022.

Atlanta’s offensive line graded out as the No. 8-ranked pass-blocking unit (74.6 PFF pass-blocking grade) and the No. 1-ranked run-blocking unit (89.3 PFF run-blocking grade) last year. And the unit enters 2023 as Sam Monson’s No. 7-ranked unit with Bergeron in the fold. The front five will keep Ridder clean against the NFC South’s waning defenses. -Nic Bodiford, PFF

Fans were calling to see Ridder for much of the season, but Falcons coach Arthur Smith stuck with Marcus Mariota until Week 15. Atlanta was in the NFC South playoff race but many felt that both the team and Ridder would have benefited from more playing time.

It’s tough to judge Ridder off of four games, which is why analysts aren’t sure what to make of the second-year Falcons QB. With elite weapons around him and a strong running game to lean on, Ridder has a chance to make some noise this season.