In Special Year for Quarterbacks, Matt Ryan Was Still No-Brainer MVP

The 2016 NFL season was special, primarily because three quarterbacks—Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers—put together campaigns that qualified as MVP-caliber.

What exactly does that mean?

Well, if I told you prior to the year that Brady would post a record touchdown-to-interception ratio of 28-to-2 while winning 11 of his 12 starts, you probably would have assumed he'd win MVP. If I told you Rodgers would throw a league-high 40 touchdown passes while torching the league in December to carry the depleted Packers to another NFC North title, you would have expected him to win the award. 

Yet Ryan's season was so special from start to finish, regardless of circumstances, that he was the most deserving of the three exceptionally strong candidates, not to mention fringe contenders, such as Derek Carr, Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott. Consider the following:

His yards-per-attempt average was off the charts

No single quarterback statistical metric is all-encompassing, but it's hard to dispute the notion that yards-per-attempt average is critical in assessing signal-callers. That's why it's important to note that Ryan's regular-season yards-per-attempt average of 9.3 was the highest qualified mark in the NFL this century.

Not this season, since 2000.

Quarterback	Team	Year	YPA
1. Matt Ryan	Falcons	2016	9.3
2. Aaron Rodgers	Packers	2011	9.2
3. Peyton Manning	Colts	2004	9.2
4. Nick Foles	Eagles	2013	9.1
5. Ben Roethlisberger	Steelers	2004, 2005	8.9

He led the league by a comical margin of 1.1 yards per attempt, with a 2.0-yard edge over Rodgers. Basically, every time Ryan threw the ball, he produced one more yard than Brady (8.2) and two more yards than Rodgers (7.3). 

That alone makes it difficult to argue in favor of anyone else. 

So was his passer rating

Ryan also led the NFL with a 117.1 passer rating, which was the fifth-highest qualified mark in league history. And he became just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to post a passer rating above 110.0 in 10 or more regular-season starts.

The other three? Steve Young in 1994, Tom Brady in 2007 and Aaron Rodgers in 2011. 

All three were MVPs. 

Brady hit that mark in only eight games this year. Rodgers in seven. Carr in five. 

The advanced stats can't be denied

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

According to Pro Football Focus, 37 quarterbacks were pressured on more than 50 dropbacks this season. The only one not to throw an interception under pressure? Matt Ryan.

Rodgers and Brady had a combined three interceptions under those circumstances. 

And again according to PFF, 31 quarterbacks attempted at least 25 deep passes this season. The only one not to throw an interception on a deep ball? Matt Ryan. 

Again, Rodgers and Brady had a combined three interceptions under those circumstances. 

Ryan wasn't perfect, but he eliminated the mistakes that frequently cost him earlier in his career. He had the league's seventh-lowest interception rate and lost just two fumbles. 

Put it all together and it's clear he was the best all-around player at the most important position in the game. With his team winning its division, there shouldn't have been much of a debate here. And in fact, the final vote tally indicates there wasn't. 

Start to finish

There were stretches this year when Rodgers and/or Brady played better than Ryan, but nobody in the game was as consistently productive. He posted a 110-plus passer rating in every month. Meanwhile, Brady missed the first month of the season due to a suspension, and Rodgers struggled with an 88.4 passer rating during the first five weeks. 

Ryan had the fullest campaign of the three quarterbacks, which has to count for something. 

And with or without Julio

Tim Warner/Getty Images

I know what some of you are thinking: "But he had Julio Jones!"

Valid point. Ryan benefited from the fact he spent most of the season throwing to arguably the best receiver in the game. He probably had more support than Rodgers (whose receivers were frequently hurt) and Brady (who lost superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski midway through the campaign). But notice that I used the word "most," not "all."

Jones missed two regular-season games due to injury and was held to fewer than 40 receiving yards on four other occasions. What did Ryan and the Atlanta offense do in those six games? Take a look: 

Category	With Jones out/limited	With Jones producing
Games	6	10
Wins	6	5
Points/game	37.0	31.8
Completion %	75.3	67.1
Yards/attempt	8.9	9.4
Touchdowns	13	25
Interceptions	1	6
Passer rating	124.0	113.7

Even in the two games in which Jones was inactive, Ryan posted a 134.7 rating and the offense averaged 41.5 points per contest. He was better with Jones than without him, so let's not pretend his out-of-control numbers were artificially inflated by the receiver's presence. 

Playoff performances validate his victory

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The votes were cast in favor of Ryan before the 2016 playoffs got underway, but he might have won by an even larger margin had the vote taken place this weekend. That's because the 31-year-old has confirmed that his 2016 regular season wasn't a fluke by putting together back-to-back great playoff performances. 

In postseason victories over the Seattle Seahawks and Packers, Ryan completed 70.7 percent of his passes for 730 yards, seven touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 132.6 passer rating, as his team scored 80 points in the process. 

He's now posted a 120-plus passer rating in six consecutive games, something nobody else in modern NFL history has accomplished. 

So while Brady has been phenomenal as usual, Rodgers dazzled beyond the numbers, and Carr, Elliott and Prescott all had exceptional seasons, this shouldn't be a debate. 

It might have been different had Brady not been suspended, or had Rodgers started strong, or had Carr not suffered a late-season injury, or had Elliott and Prescott not sort of canceled each other out. It might have been different had Ryan made more than a mistake or two, or had he relied too heavily on Jones. 

But none of that happened, which is why Ryan is your rightful 2016 MVP. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.