In an effort to try and salvage the season, the Falcons signed former Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich on Tuesday. In reaction to the signing, ESPN columnist Christopher Harris noted that the Falcons have other issues besides the quarterback play.
You can change offenses in an offseason. You can have your megastar starting quarterback thrown into jail in an offseason, and then hire a journeyman with more hate mail than Larry Bird still coming in from Detroit. You can have your starting rusher undergo relatively major surgery. You can sign a washed-up 35-year-old wide receiver to be your top guy catching passes. But I wouldn’t recommend you do all these things at once. The offensive line in Atlanta is actually pretty okay, and honestly, Harrington hasn’t played terribly. But the rushers have been uninspired, the play-calling has been conservative, and for the umpteenth season in a row, there’s really nobody other than Crumpler who can, like, catch.
Harris is right – the Falcons were doomed from the start, although I think he misses the point in that the Falcons “hired” Harrington as a back up, not a starter. Regardless, signing Leftwich probably won’t make a difference, but at least the Falcons front office is trying to show that winning is still the main objective. Harrington isn’t the guy and Leftwich was the best quarterback available, so the decision was easy.
