Deep Dive: QB Matt Ryan Stat Will Surprise Atlanta Falcons Critics
Pro Football Focus (PFF) released a stat that will surprise Matt Ryan detractors and fans alike.
According to PFF, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback leads the NFL in accuracy on passes over 10 yards.
Ryan is joined at the top of the charts by Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert of the Cincinnati Bengals and LA Chargers, respectively.
Ryan has always been considered a quarterback with an accurate arm. That he is accurate on longer throws is a bit more surprising, because his arm strength has always been in question compared to other elite quarterbacks.
Ryan, it has been argued, excels with timing routes rather than fitting the ball into tight windows.
Despite the stat pointing to Ryan's accuracy on longer throws, he is having the worst year of his career on yards per attempt at 10.2 through 11 games, well below his career high of 13.3 set in his 2016 MVP season.
Ryan's accuracy on the long ball has been good, but the frequency has been way down.
The pass blocking from the offensive line has been dreadful in 2021, and Ryan lost his top-two receivers from a year ago. Julio Jones was traded to the Tennessee Titans in the offseason, and Calvin Ridley left the team on Halloween after posting 31 catches for 281 yards in just five games.
The 36-year old Ryan has two years left on the five-year $150 million contract he signed in 2018. His salary cap hit accelerates from $26.9 million this year to $48.7 million in 2022, making his the highest cap hit in the entire NFL.
Ryan has converted part of his salary into a bonus each of the last two seasons to create more cap space for the Falcons. There's reason to believe that could happen again this season for the Falcons to get more cap flexibility to improve the many holes they have on both sides of the lines of scrimmage.
Throwing the ball downfield doesn't appear to be a problem for Ryan according to PFF. Having the time to throw the ball downfield and who to throw it to is definitely a problem for Ryan and the Falcons.
Ryan will need to help the Falcons in order to help himself the next two seasons.
