Here's Why the NFL is Wrong About Colts QB Matt Ryan
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The offseason is mercifully almost over. On Wednesday, July 27, the Indianapolis Colts return to launch a 2022 season that has been highly anticipated by fans.
The reason for all the optimism this year?
Matt Ryan.
So if Colts fans are so excited about landing a franchise quarterback, albeit an aging one, why can't Ryan get any love across the NFL media landscape?
'Tis the season of the list. You've read them — seen them everywhere. The offseason lists are ubiquitous.
And while Ryan's name obviously graces said lists, he's never ranked in the top-10. Is that fair? Is it ageism?
I jest, but after all, the soon-to-be 45-year-old Tom Brady still straddles most credible top-10 lists, while Aaron Rodgers enters his age-39 season as the NFL's back-to-back MVP. So why does Ryan get overlooked at 37?
It stems from two things: having been buried on a horrible team with bad coaching for the last five years and his reputation as a 'pocket statue.'
Ryan won the NFL's MVP award back in 2016, and led the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl and a sure-fire victory, if not for a miraculous comeback by Brady's New England Patriots. 28-3. Ouch.
Since that season, though, the Falcons stunk it up and bad. Kyle Shanahan relinquished his job as Atlanta's offensive coordinator to take the head-coaching gig in San Francisco, which marooned Ryan. Still, Ryan marched on.
What if I told you that over the ensuing five years, which saw Atlanta flounder in the NFL doldrums, Ryan averaged 4,406 passing yards, 25 touchdowns (to just 11 interceptions), and a completion percentage of 66.4%? And yet, he can barely manage to crack a top-15 QBs list.
It's a case-in-point example of how collective failure as a team can so quickly diminish the profile of a league MVP. Sure, Ryan shares complicity in Atlanta's inability to climb back on the horse post-Super Bowl.
Honestly, though, he was the only thing keeping that team even remotely competitive as the GM squandered one draft class after another, while the defense, and Ryan's supporting cast, got old.
At the end of the day, who cares whether Ryan makes some random and arbitrary NFL list of quarterbacks? It feels nice when one's QB earns praise in the national conversation, but Ryan flying under the radar currently plays right into the Colts' hands.
Let the NFL sleep on Ryan because it means everyone's nodding out on the Colts, too. Meanwhile, the road to the AFC South crown could very well go through Lucas Oil Stadium as there's no guarantee Derrick Henry returns to form in Tennessee.
After all, the Colts — not the Titans — boast the NFL's reigning rushing champion in first-team All-Pro Jonathan Taylor. Combined with Ryan's veteran experience, the Colts' young receiving corps, and a hungry defense — Taylor is the cherry on top.
Every bonafide playoff contender needs that tip-of-the-spear who can wear down defenses and put his quarterback in favorable down-and-distance situations when the intensity level rises down the stretch.
The stars are aligning nicely for the Colts. Let the NFL sleep on Ryan. Enjoy it while it lasts because something tells me that by the time the first quarter of the 2022 regular season is in the books, Ryan and company will no longer be flying under the radar.
Remember when everyone thought a 36-year-old Peyton Manning was washed up? And he landed on a new team and proceeded to lay waste to the NFL for the next four years, setting new records, earning several additional accolades, and winning another Super Bowl?
Yeah, Manning was viewed as old, too. With nothing left in the tank. Being transplanted in a new NFL city with something to prove served as a spark for Manning that few saw coming.
I foresee a similar lift for Ryan a decade later, only this time, it benefits the Colts.
Let 'em sleep on Matty Ice, too.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.
