Falcons QB Matt Ryan adds a new accolade to his collection

Matt Ryan is entering his 14th season as the Falcons starter.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has been called a bunch of things during his career. “Offensive Rookie of the Year”, “MVP”, “Matty Ice”, “overrated trash”, among other things.

That said, can one reasonably say the Falcons’ 13-year veteran is this: a top-10 quarterback based on talent?

Evidently, a man who has seemed to give Ryan criticism tends to believe this.

In a recent airing of his fabled “Herd Hierarchy“, usually reserved for the NFL season and a more concise ranking, FS1 radio host Colin Cowherd said that, of the 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, Ryan is the seventh-best in that group.

For reference, here’s the official ranking:

1. Patrick Mahomes
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Russell Wilson
4. Deshaun Watson
5. Carson Wentz
6. Ryan Tannehill
7. Matt Ryan
8. Dak Prescott
9. Jared Goff
10. Kirk Cousins

In his reasoning, Cowherd stated: “At seven, I put Matt Ryan. He’s been an MVP, he’s been to a Super Bowl. I know he’s not fun to watch, but he’s got the most passing yards for a quarterback in the first decade of his career. He gives you consistency at the quarterback position. Atlanta’s problem is the defense is horrific. He [Ryan} ain’t the issue”.

Let’s be honest here folks: as much as Cowherd has been a thorn in Atlanta’s side (Andy Dalton in a dome ring a bell?), he pretty much hit the nail on the head here. While most of the fanbase has stated “he’s washed up, we need to get rid of him immediately”, they’re either clearly not watching the games or just waiting for that slip-up to say “Told ya, Falcons fans”.

Those people need to go back and watch the tape. I’ll be blunt myself: that Chargers game this year? My heart sunk when we picked off Herbert, had a chance to win the game with no time left, and Ryan threw his third interception of the game, allowing Los Angeles to win.

However, what happened after that game specifically? Oh, that’s right: after throwing those three picks, Ryan didn’t throw another for the rest of the Falcons season. In fact, his final three games had this stat line: 921 passing yards (exactly 307 YPG), seven touchdowns, zero INTs, and an average passer rating of 109.7.

In other words, Cowherd was right: Ryan wasn’t the issue with the Falcons this year. Do we need to remember the Cowboys, Bears, Lions, or that first Bucs game again? Or how about the Super Bowl, cause let’s face it: even when we win the Super Bowl, we lose because fans will say “Y’all should’ve had two!”

Despite all this, Ryan’s been the best thing to happen to the Atlanta Falcons since arguably the Jerry Glanville “Back in Black” days with Deion Sanders. Maybe the argument can be made about Mike Vick and how he revolutionized the game (and ruined friendships if one had a copy of Madden ’04), but since 2008, if the then-cover athlete of NCAA ’09 didn’t come to the ATL, who knows what our team would’ve been like.

Top 10 in career passing yards, top 10 in career passing touchdowns, 13th in career passer rating, and top 10 in career completions? It’s not rocket science people: once his career is over, and the five-year grace period expires, Matt Ryan will become the next Atlanta Falcon to be enshrined in Canton, no matter what argument media and fans try to use.