Film Room: Matt Ryan is Outstanding Over the Middle
The Indianapolis Colts have their new quarterback, and there is a lot to be excited about with this addition. Former MVP Matt Ryan is as experienced as they come, and he has quite a bit of good football still ahead of him.
While there are a multitude of reasons to love this trade for the Colts, I (personally) am most excited for the team to have a player of his caliber when it comes to attacking the middle of the field.
While Carson Wentz was adequate in this area, Ryan was on another plane between the numbers. Here are his stats when throwing between the numbers this past season with the Atlanta Falcons (excluding throws behind the line of scrimmage):
200 completions on 272 attempts for 2,264 yards (8.32 yards per attempt) with 13 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. Those numbers were good enough for a 107.84 passer rating on such throws.
That is simply elite stuff, and Ryan's film certainly backs up these numbers. In today's film room, I dive into why Ryan is so dominant in this area of the field and what this could mean for the Colts' offense.
Ryan Won't Hesitate
Unlike other quarterbacks in the Colts' recent history, Ryan will rarely second guess what he is reading in a defense. He has played in the NFL long enough to know when he can attack certain spots in coverages.
If he sees a slight hesitation by a linebacker in zone, he will attack. If he sees a linebacker late in their zone drop, he will attack. If he sees a linebacker with their head turned for far too long, he will attack.
Ryan understands how to exploit linebackers in coverage in the short to intermediate areas of the field. This play below is a great example. His tight end smokes the outside linebacker off of the line of scrimmage, creating instant separation.
Where Ryan shows off his wizardry is in his placement of this throw. He hits the window in between the dropping linebacker and the trailing coverage backer with ease on the play. He steps into this throw with confidence, and the result is a big first down in a tight window.
Tailoring the Offense to Matt Ryan
Contrary to popular belief, quarterbacks are rarely just thrown into a new offense and forced to adapt to everything that the play-caller wants to do. The relationship between a play-caller and a quarterback is a cohesive one, where the play-caller typically tailors their scheme to their quarterback's likes and dislikes.
So, when it comes to Ryan working with Frank Reich, he will be able to bring a lot of concepts that he found success in with the Falcons over to the Colts. A TON of those concepts will include aggressively attacking the middle of the field.
Ryan, from my film study, loves an offense that involves a lot of slants, high-low concepts, and crossers that put linebackers in difficult positions. This play below is a great example.
The Falcons are running a fairly simply high-low concept, with the tight end running a crosser over the top and the slot receiver running a stop route off of the switch release.
Ryan's read on the play is the MIKE linebacker. The second he sees the MIKE hesitate slightly on the stop route, he knows he can take advantage over the top. He fires the ball over the outstretched arm of the linebacker for the big gain.
With Ryan bringing nearly 15 years of experience to the Colts' offense, I expect his input to be a major part of the passing gameplan going forward. Expect to see a lot of slants, high-lows, crossers, and most importantly....
The Return of MESH
The once staple of the Colts' offense under Reich was seemingly non-existent in 2021 with Carson Wentz. As I mentioned above, play-callers tailor their offense to the likes of their quarterback, and mesh calls were simply not Wentz's cup of tea whatsoever.
Ryan, however, is much more comparable to a quarterback like Philip Rivers. He will take the underneath throws when they are available, and he will rarely miss the lay-ups underneath.
With Ryan's addition to this offense, I fully expect to see the return of mesh concepts to the Colts in 2022. This could mean big things for players such as Micheal Pittman Jr, Kylen Granson, and maybe even Nyheim Hines.
The Bottom Line
There are a ton of positive attributes that Matt Ryan will bring to the 2022 Colts. He is an outstanding leader with a history of success in this league. The area that I am excited the most about, as a film nerd, is the return of a highly confident quarterback that will attack the middle of the field.
I feel comfortable saying that Ryan's middle of the field numbers will improve from last year to this year under Frank Reich. That is how confident I am in how Reich will tailor this offense to how Ryan excels over the middle.
The Colts are going to get back to an efficient, less-volatile passing game in 2022.. and Matt Ryan is the perfect quarterback to lead the way.
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