Opinion: Matt Ryan Is A Hall Of Fame Quarterback

ESPN journalist, Bomani Jones thinks Matt Ryan isn't a Hall of Fame quarterback . He is wrong.

Author:
William B. Carver
Updated:
Jul 10, 2020 8:20 AM EDT
Original:
Jul 10, 2020

What is the criteria for a quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Is it Super Bowl victories?

Is it about stats?

Is it about how a player compares to their contemporaries ?

ESPN journalist and Atlanta native, Bomani Jones ruffled the feathers of Falcon’s fans via Twitter on Monday by decrying Matt Ryan isn’t a Hall of Fame quarterback

Less than an hour later, both Jones and Ryan were trending on Twitter.

I’m going to get right to the point. He is wrong. Like most team sports , professional football statistics are king. It is understandable that the Hall of Fame is hard to get into and that it’s an elite company of players but we must compare Ryan to the quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame.

Ryan’s current career stats align with other Hall of Famers or soon to be Hall of Famers. He is No. 11 all-time in touchdowns thrown and No. 10 in total career passing yards.

That's what it’s about right?

Stats, accolades and achievements?

Ryan has all of the franchise stats and is among the NFL greats as far as the NFL career stat book is concerned .

Of course, Super bowl victories are important, however there are quarterbacks with Super Bowls that aren’t in the Hall of Fame. There are quarterbacks that don’t have Super Bowl victories but are in the Hall Of Fame.

Currently , Matt Ryan doesn’t have any Super Bowl victories but he does have a Super Bowl loss attached to his record. It is fair from a leadership standpoint that Ryan takes some blame for the loss but on a statistical standpoint it isn’t Ryan’s fault .

So, clearly the Super Bowl loss is what critics are attached too but it has to be more than that because Dan Marino only played in one Super Bowl where he threw for 318 yards on 29-50 passing with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. Compare that to Ryan who threw for 284 yards on 17-23 passing with 2 TDs and 0 interceptions.

So, it must be the epic comeback loss that the Atlanta Falcons suffered rather than how Ryan performed as a quarterback.

Ryan is less than 100 TDs and 10,000 passing yards behind Marino in both major quarterback categories.

Ryan has at least five years left in that arm. More opportunities to add to his stats and most importantly, more time to help the Falcons win a super bowl. We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if the Falcons didn’t blow a lead.

Ryan is a Hall of Fame quarterback now and he will be one when he retires.

Check out this week's episode to see what Demi thinks.