This year's Thursday Night Football slate hasn't provided a showcase of stellar execution, and this week's matchup between the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons was no different. Fans of great quarterback play weren't treated to much of it.

Of course, this has been par for the course this year in the NFC South, a division that very well may feature four new Week 1 starters in 2023.

We saw a mostly good performance from Panthers quarterback PJ Walker, though Carolina leaned heavily on the ground game. The 2017 undrafted free agent out of Temple finished 10-of-16 for 108 yards.

Walker hit on a few deep passes but didn't provide much potency in the short-to-intermediate game.

We also saw a handful of good plays from Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota—including a pair of touchdowns—but his performance was largely difficult to watch. He finished 19-of-30 for 186 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and he played worse than the numbers suggest.

Mariota was hesitant in the pocket (sacked five times) and made some baffling throws. He repeatedly hurt his team with accuracy issues and poor decisions. For much of the night, he let the ball loose with reckless abandon—including on one fourth-quarter throw that would have been an interception if Mariota hadn't been ruled down by contact a moment before.

Mariota also had a potential interception dropped near the end zone in the first quarter.

Unsurprisingly, many watching at home wondered if the Falcons would give rookie third-round pick Desmond Ridder a look with Mariota struggling.

There are a few reasons the Falcons should give Ridder a look over the final eight weeks of the season. Yes, Atlanta is still in the thick of the NFC South race, but Mariota isn't going to carry the Falcons to a division title. He came into Thursday night completing 61.7 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions, and Atlanta has struggled to truly open up its offense with him under center.

Just consider that tight end Kyle Pitts was a 1,000-yard receiver as a rookie and has just 313 yards through nine games.

Mariota has been a capable game-manager, and his dual-threat ability complements Atlanta's run-first offense well, but as he showed on Thursday, he can't put the offense on his back when Atlanta needs to win through the air.

Would Ridder really be any more of a risk under center than Mariota? Perhaps. However, he could also be the future at the quarterback position in Atlanta. He showed a ton last season (3,334 passing yards, 30 TDs, 8 INTs) while leading the Cincinnati Bearcats to the College Football Playoff.

The Falcons won't get an answer if they don't give Ridder an opportunity, and they need answers. Mariota isn't the long-term answer, and if Ridder isn't either, they'll be looking at next year's draft for their new franchise QB.

The 2023 quarterback draft class—likely headlined by C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Will Levis—is widely expected to be better than the 2022 class. The Falcons may have a shot at one of the top prospects, and the Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be looking at quarterbacks in the first round as well.

The Saints don't have a first-round selection due to their 2022 first-round trade with the Philadelphia Eagles.

With all due respect to Walker, he probably isn't the future in Carolina. He's simply been more consistent than trade acquisition Baker Mayfield and healthier than Sam Darnold and rookie third-round pick Matt Corral.

Mayfield has been a borderline disaster this season, going 98-of-173 for 1,117 yards with six touchdowns, four interceptions and a 78.1 passer rating. Yet Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks didn't hesitate to reinsert Mayfield into the lineup last week when Walker struggled during a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

With Corral (Lisfranc injury), the Panthers aren't getting a look at their rookie this season.

The Saints' two starters this season have been an injury-hampered Jameis Winston and journeyman Andy Dalton. Neither is a long-term answer for New Orleans. Collectively, Saints quarterbacks have completed 65 percent of their passes with 15 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 90 rating.

The Buccaneers, meanwhile, have plenty of uncertainty surrounding Tom Brady.

Brady hasn't been terrible this season, but he hasn't been great either (90.5 passer rating). He's 45 years old and scheduled to be a free agent in 2023. Even if Brady decides to play at 46, he may look for a team with better title chances than the Bucs, who lead the division with a 4-5 record.

"I don't think he's going to want to come back at age 46 seeing an organization or a roster that he doesn't think is going to meet his Super Bowl expectations," The Athletic's Jeff Howe said during an appearance on The Herd (beginning at the 2:26 mark).

Tampa does have 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask sitting behind Brady, but it could very well be in on a quarterback prospect too.

If the season ended today, Tampa Bay would pick outside of the top 18 only because it leads the division. The Falcons and Panthers would select fifth and 15th, respectively. If the Buccaneers cede the division, they could easily land a top-15 selection.

There's a reasonable chance that two NFC South teams take a top-three QB in the 2023 NFL draft.

In the Bleacher Report Scouting Department's early top 100, Stroud was ranked as the seventh overall prospect, while Young and Levis were ranked 10th and 11th, respectively. In the Scouting Department's latest mock draft, Stroud, Young and Levis went first, third and 15th overall.

Though Levis may be a mid-first-round pick, he has franchise quarterback potential, as Bleacher Report's Derrik Klassen noted:

"The Penn State transfer is coming out of college with plenty of experience under center and turning his back to the defense, something many of his peers cannot claim. The 6'3", 232-pound Levis has a big arm and a do-or-die mentality in the pocket, giving him the tools to be a Ryan Tannehill-esque machine on play-action."

Teams don't necessarily need to "earn" a top-five selection to find a quarterback of the future next year.

And if teams in the NFC South aren't sold on the 2023 quarterback class, there are some intriguing names slated to be available in free agency—including Brady, Geno Smith, Jimmy Garoppolo, Daniel Jones and Jacoby Brissett.

So, as the quarterback play in the division has been shaky at best and putrid at worst, fans can and should expect a new crop of starters next season. There's no guarantee they'll make NFC South football more exciting to watch, but it's not as if things can get a whole lot worse.

Either way, change will be coming to this division next year.