Matt Ryan Can Prove He Belongs In Top Tier Of Qbs

[BigMikey]

Honestly, I don't really care about these sort of rankings. Years to year, depending on team W/L and individual performance fluctuations, Ryan's ranking should and does hover anywhere from 5 to 12ish. You can spend all day debating where exactly he belongs, but all that matters is that he's good enough to win a super bowl.

[MattM12]

Honestly, I don't really care about these sort of rankings. Years to year, depending on team W/L and individual performance fluctuations, Ryan's ranking should and does hover anywhere from 5 to 12ish. You can spend all day debating where exactly he belongs, but all that matters is that he's good enough to win a super bowl.

great post.

But still... Flacco and Wilson can suck it

[gazoo]

Honestly, I don't really care about these sort of rankings. Years to year, depending on team W/L and individual performance fluctuations, Ryan's ranking should and does hover anywhere from 5 to 12ish. You can spend all day debating where exactly he belongs, but all that matters is that he's good enough to win a super bowl.

agree, with the exception that everyone agrees he's better than Flacco of course

[gazoo]

I almost stop reading when he said a qb that carries his team week to week without help..

Thats complete BS. The besg QBs have the best supporting cast.

Rodgers

Brady

Manning

Luck all have weapons..

And all have a decent to very good defense..

No help my azz

I know, where do these idiots come up wit the idea a QB, all by himself, is supposed to lift a dump truck filled with a steaming load of feces? To a degree sure a QB *should* be able to lift his team, but that assumes the rest of the team has the ability to be lifted. Our offensive line and defenses have not met that criteria in many of the Ryan years.

So sure, Brady can lift the Patriots roster with the game on the line, but Ryan has never had a roster as good as Brady had had before. I'm not so sure Flacco has doen as much lifting the team with the game on the line as his defensive hall of fame vets like Ray Lewis did though. Flacco layed awesome, dont get me wrong, but Ray Lewis was the one elevating that defense to play lights out with the game on the line in the Super Bowl run just as much or more than Flacco did.

I just get tired of these mouthpieces making absurd comparisons of roster talent by saying things like "Matt Ryan can't elevate his players like Tom Brady" while ignoring the fact Tom Bradys rosters over the years have been infinitely better than Ryan's. Its almost like Tom Bradys roster is all 8 feet tall, and Ryans roster is all 5' tall, and the mouthpieces give Brady the credit becuase he can get his roster to jump higher. Its ridiculous really..

[Drunken Minotaur Zebra]

He is elite.

aaaand we're done here

[rcky_mtn_falcon]

Let's not pretend that Matty Ice has never had bad post season performances.

Let's not pretend Russell Wilson would be that great without Lynch and that defense.

[DirtyBird8711]

Let's not pretend Russell Wilson would be that great without Lynch and that defense.

[Guest Negatorris]

Matt Ryan is not elite, just stop. Elite QBS are rare and they don't have losing seasons when fully healthy in their prime years regardless of the team around them. Truly elite QBs raise the level of play of those around them. Why does it seem like every new WR GB gets seems to raise their level of play when Arod is throwing them the ball? It's not rocket science. Ryan is a very good QB and he will have a chance to enter the HOF if he ever wins a championship but there is absolutely nothing to prove he's elite.

[gazoo]

Matt Ryan is not elite, just stop. Elite QBS are rare and they don't have losing seasons when fully healthy in their prime years regardless of the team around them. Truly elite QBs raise the level of play of those around them. Why does it seem like every new WR GB gets seems to raise their level of play when Arod is throwing them the ball? It's not rocket science. Ryan is a very good QB and he will have a chance to enter the HOF if he ever wins a championship but there is absolutely nothing to prove he's elite.

Perhaps you missed the memo, wins are a team stat.

Thanks for sharing though.

[Door Gunner]

I am 100% confident, that if we would have had Russell Wilson as our QB last year, We would have swept the Bucks.

[JDaveG]

Really, I like McClure, but this is kind of a silly article. The reality is we have a team. There are deficiencies on the team. QB is not among them.

When Ryan has a solid defense, a decent o-line and some weapons, he can produce and produce well. When he doesn't, he can't. Does that mean he isn't "elite?" Who knows? Who cares? He's not the problem on this team, and he's not by a long shot. Of problem areas on the Atlanta Falcons right now, I am pretty sure I'd put QB at the bottom of the list. Can anyone name a position group in better shape as a whole?

Let's fix some problems that are actually problems before we worry about whether our QB is "elite." Because I'll take a pretty good QB with a really good team over the best QB in the league on a garbage team all day long.

[Beef]

Matt Ryan is not elite, just stop. Elite QBS are rare and they don't have losing seasons when fully healthy in their prime years regardless of the team around them. Truly elite QBs raise the level of play of those around them. Why does it seem like every new WR GB gets seems to raise their level of play when Arod is throwing them the ball? It's not rocket science. Ryan is a very good QB and he will have a chance to enter the HOF if he ever wins a championship but there is absolutely nothing to prove he's elite.

08: #6 offense - #2 rushing, #13 passing | #24 defense...... 11-5

09: #16 offense - #15 rushing, #14 passing | #21 defense...... 9-7

10: #16 offense - #12 rushing, #14 passing | #16 defense...... 13-3

11: #10 offense - #17 rushing, #8 passing | #13 defense...... 10-6

12: #8 offense - #29 rushing, #6 passing | #24 defense...... 13-3

13: #13 offense - #32 rushing, #7 passing | #27 defense...... 4-12

14: #8 offense - #24 rushing, #5 passing | #32 defense...... 6-10

Horrible defenses most of his career as well as average to horrible rushing offenses, and yet he maintains a top tier passing offense and total offense every year.

The 32nd ranked defense and 24th ranked rushing attack and probably the worst OL in the league, plus a coach that botched two games with horrid clock management, and yet he was the 5th best passer, 8th overall offense, and we still won 6 games (and should have been 8 games). If that's not putting the team on your back and manufacturing wins in the face of the worst odds, then I don't know what is.

People who think this guy isn't elite are just blind, obtuse, or just intellectually dishonest. They're exactly like gazoo says, they very foolishly rank QB's by wins and losses and completely ignore the quality of the entire team surrounding them.

That's just not how this works. If you think it does, you're doing it wrong.

[YoungHeezy]

Matt Ryan is not elite, just stop. Elite QBS are rare and they don't have losing seasons when fully healthy in their prime years regardless of the team around them. Truly elite QBs raise the level of play of those around them. Why does it seem like every new WR GB gets seems to raise their level of play when Arod is throwing them the ball? It's not rocket science. Ryan is a very good QB and he will have a chance to enter the HOF if he ever wins a championship but there is absolutely nothing to prove he's elite.

Honest question. Whose play has Aaron Rodgers raised? It's not like Rodgers "new" receivers struggled before or after Rodgers (that I know of). Greg Jennings with Minnesota maybe?

[JD dirtybird21]

08: #6 offense - #2 rushing, #13 passing | #24 defense...... 11-5

09: #16 offense - #15 rushing, #14 passing | #21 defense...... 9-7

10: #16 offense - #12 rushing, #14 passing | #16 defense...... 13-3

11: #10 offense - #17 rushing, #8 passing | #13 defense...... 10-6

12: #8 offense - #29 rushing, #6 passing | #24 defense...... 13-3

13: #13 offense - #32 rushing, #7 passing | #27 defense...... 4-12

14: #8 offense - #24 rushing, #5 passing | #32 defense...... 6-10

Horrible defenses most of his career as well as average to horrible rushing offenses, and yet he maintains a top tier passing offense and total offense every year.

The 32nd ranked defense and 24th ranked rushing attack and probably the worst OL in the league, plus a coach that botched two games with horrid clock management, and yet he was the 5th best passer, 8th overall offense, and we still won 6 games (and should have been 8 games). If that's not putting the team on your back and manufacturing wins in the face of the worst odds, then I don't know what is.

People who think this guy isn't elite are just blind, obtuse, or just intellectually dishonest. They're exactly like gazoo says, they very foolishly rank QB's by wins and losses and completely ignore the quality of the entire team surrounding them.

That's just not how this works. If you think it does, you're doing it wrong.

None of this matters, an elite QB can elevate his 24th ranked defense to 5th

[JD dirtybird21]

Honest question. Whose play has Aaron Rodgers raised? It's not like Rodgers "new" receivers struggled before or after Rodgers (that I know of). Greg Jennings with Minnesota maybe?

I think Jennings just simply declined because he was ballin with Favre as well

[Radiohead]

So tired of reading about whether or not Ryan "Belongs" in the top tier of QB's.

-- To answer this inane question, yes. He does.

I don't care how Matt Ryan compares to other NFL QBs. Not even a little bit.

The only thing I care about is the Falcons Offensive Line being able to pass protect and run-block effectively on a week-to-week basis.

Ryan has proven, year after year, that his talent, precision and decision making are all supremely capable of putting his team in a position to win and advance into the Playoffs.

[Beef]

None of this matters, an elite QB can elevate his 24th ranked defense to 5th

You were supposed to color that in purple or footnote it with a /s.

[JD dirtybird21]

You were supposed to color that in purple or footnote it with a /s.

Sorry, didn't get that memo lol

[likeriver]

I think the former coaching staff was holding him back. Several of his INTs came from trying to force throws on the final drives DESPITE no chance of winning (see: Bengals, Vikings, off the top of my head). It made me angry watching Ryan add meaningless demerits to his stat line for no purpose. Poor adjustments in the second half of games made it difficult for the team (and Ryan) score, so potential TD's were lost. Also pointless screen passes hurt his YPA. If he were in a better environment (hopefully this new one) I think he would put up more TD's and less INTs and have a higher YPA as well, which could easily thrust him to the top of the QBR rankings this season.

[Vandy]

I think the former coaching staff was holding him back. Several of his INTs came from trying to force throws on the final drives DESPITE no chance of winning (see: Bengals, Vikings, off the top of my head). It made me angry watching Ryan add meaningless demerits to his stat line for no purpose. Poor adjustments in the second half of games made it difficult for the team (and Ryan) score, so potential TD's were lost. Also pointless screen passes hurt his YPA. If he were in a better environment (hopefully this new one) I think he would put up more TD's and less INTs and have a higher YPA as well, which could easily thrust him to the top of the QBR rankings this season.

I don't see how that as the former coaching staff holding him back. That's what happens when a team gets behind late in games, what do you want to do, run the ball?

I may be wrong, but sounds like you might have had MR on your Fantasy team, and those late ints crushed your week!

[Vandy]

Honest question. Whose play has Aaron Rodgers raised? It's not like Rodgers "new" receivers struggled before or after Rodgers (that I know of). Greg Jennings with Minnesota maybe?

That's actually a fair question. Rodgers and pack had that one great postseason run and won one SB, but media makes it like he had 3-4 rings.

2nd round WR pick D Adams was meh last year, TE's Jerimichael Finley and DJ Williams never reached their potential....and whatever happened to Jonathon Franklin?

[Beef]

I think the former coaching staff was holding him back. Several of his INTs came from trying to force throws on the final drives DESPITE no chance of winning (see: Bengals, Vikings, off the top of my head). It made me angry watching Ryan add meaningless demerits to his stat line for no purpose. Poor adjustments in the second half of games made it difficult for the team (and Ryan) score, so potential TD's were lost. Also pointless screen passes hurt his YPA. If he were in a better environment (hopefully this new one) I think he would put up more TD's and less INTs and have a higher YPA as well, which could easily thrust him to the top of the QBR rankings this season.

This is absolutely a valid point. And you are correct, a good chunk of Matt's ints came in either garbage time in hopeless games just trying to force deep passes that didn't matter or in games we were behind by 8+ with only a few minutes left and he was forced to try and score quickly.

I may actually do an analysis later and see how many 4th quarter ints Matt has thrown in games we were down by 8 or more points with only maybe 5 minutes left. If my memory is correct, it's a bunch. And I wonder what his QBR is without those ints. I bet it changes a lot.

[YoungHeezy]

I think Jennings just simply declined because he was ballin with Favre as well

Yeah that was my point. We haven't seen Nelson or Cobb play with anyone besides Rodgers. James Jones has that one anamoly of a year TD wise but he's been pretty average too in OK

[FentayeJones]

This whole elite QB conversation is so silly to me.

[likeriver]

I don't see how that as the former coaching staff holding him back. That's what happens when a team gets behind late in games, what do you want to do, run the ball?

I may be wrong, but sounds like you might have had MR on your Fantasy team, and those late ints crushed your week!

To clarify, I'm talking INT's specifically when there's no chance of winning, literally 0. I'm not talking about a last second hail marry to win the game. I remember the Bengals game he threw a worthless INT on the last play. We were down 8+ points so it's not like if Jones caught it we would've won. Whatever the result we would've lost the game. So why have Matt Ryan force a play? Idk, maybe it was Ryan's choice, but I bet coaching had some influence on that decision.