Colts HC Frank Reich Praises Matt Ryan After Falcons Trade: 'We Needed Each Other'

For the fifth straight season, the Indianapolis Colts will begin their campaign with a new starting quarterback. But head coach Frank Reich sounds more than happy to have Matt Ryan under center in 2022.  

"I think everyone saw from the outside that this is a good fit," he told the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. "Like, people can universally agree you got a guy who's still playing at a high level with a team and roster that is built to make some noise. We needed each other."

It's been a roller-coaster ride for the Colts in recent years at quarterback, going from Andrew Luck in 2018, Jacoby Brissett in 2019 and Philip Rivers in 2020 to Carson Wentz last season and Ryan in 2022. 

The Colts gave up a third-round pick to add Ryan, which will be a major bargain if Ryan can help return them to the playoffs. 

When Reich broke down film of Ryan before the trade, he said he didn't see any signs that the 36-year-old was slowing down. 

"The first thing I'm looking at is, is the accuracy still there and what does the arm look like," Reich said. "So, dig into every throw from the last couple years. Look at the ball velocity, look at the length, look at the accuracy, look at the movement skills and I see no diminishing physical skills."

Ryan didn't have a great year in 2021, throwing for 3,968 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, completing 67 percent of his passes. The Falcons went 7-10 under his watch. It was his first season failing to reach 4,000 passing yards since 2010. 

But in Ryan's defense, the Falcons traded Julio Jones before the 2021 season, and Calvin Ridley missed most of the campaign for personal reasons. That left Ryan without his top two receivers from the year prior. 

He'll have a far upgraded offensive line with the Colts, with ascending wideout Michael Pittman Jr. and superstar running back Jonathan Taylor to help ease his transition in Indy. 

"I'm looking forward to digging into that this offseason with Matt, with our coaches," Reich said. "It's going to be 80 percent of what we've done in the past, 90 percent, but then there's going to be tweaks. We will look through all of his film. We'll pull out concepts that he's done a lot in Atlanta and he's been successful with. We'll listen to how he's thought about those things, how they complement what we do, and then we'll find ways to integrate some of those things."