Matt Ryan barely cracks top 15 in NFL.com’s 2020 QB Index
When an NFL team misses the playoffs for three straight years, the quarterback is going to take some criticism. The Atlanta Falcons have Matt Ryan under contract for three more seasons but after landing the No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft, the team has a chance to add a new signal-caller.
Ryan can clearly still play, however, and the Falcons have plenty of other areas they could address with that pick. Even if Atlanta does take a quarterback, it’s unlikely they would see the field this season. So where does Ryan rank among his peers as he enters his 14th season?
According to NFL.com’s QB index, he’s just barely above the middle of the pack. The veteran quarterback was ranked at No. 14 out of the 59 players to start a game in 2020. Here’s what NFL.com’s Tom Blair wrote about Ryan:
Anyone antsy for the Falcons to move on from Ryan should wait to see if he and new head coach Arthur Smith can make Rodgers-LaFleur-like magic in 2021. Ryan was much better than Atlanta’s record (or the handful of subpar outings he produced) suggests, mostly living up to his customary statistical standards, but even if he takes a serious step back as a 36-year-old QB, he projects as, at worst, a high-end veteran who can keep the Falcons competitive while they formulate plans for the post-Ryan era.
It’s hard to argue with Ryan’s ranking when you look at the numbers posted by the 13 quarterbacks listed ahead of him. With Arthur Smith taking over the Falcons’ offense in 2021, though, Ryan has a chance to return to elite status.
Smith helped resurrect the career of Ryan Tannehill, who was listed as the No. 8 QB in NFL.com’s rankings. Tannehill thrived with the Titans over the past two seasons playing in Smith’s offense, which excelled by using the run to set up a lethal play-action passing game.
