Why Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan Will Never Be an Elite QB

When Matt Ryan lit up the Pittsburgh Steelers in his third start of the preseason, many pundits jumped on the bandwagon and opined that THIS would be the year Matt Ryan would break out to join the fraternity of elite NFL QBs.

Not so fast, "experts."

Through the first seven games of the season, Ryan had nine TDs and eight INTs, with a decidedly non-elite 79.5 QB rating.

In today's game against the horrendous Indianapolis Colts, Ryan was lights out, but this isn't the performance to base his potential on. In fact, the whole game deserves a soundtrack of Yakety Sax, because it was comically bad. In other words, beating the 0-9 Colts isn't much to put on your resume. 

While it may not be time to pull the plug on the Ryan experiment entirely, Falcons fans should wake up and realize that Matty Ice isn't the guy to take them to the Super Bowl. 

In fact, as harsh a message as it might be for Falcons fans to hear, they might be better off right now with Michael Vick as their starter.

As many bridges as he burned in Atlanta, he's the kind of dynamic player that can lead a team to a Super Bowl victory all by himself. And after his many public statements of contrition, Vick has become a figure that (most) Philadelphia Eagles fans can get behind.

Don't you think Falcons fans would re-embrace Vick if he brought the Lombardi Trophy to Atlanta?

So what's next for Atlanta? They certainly aren't bad enough to consider sucking for Luck. In fact, the Falcons are only one game behind the Saints in the NFC South. There's no question they're still in the playoff picture.

No, Ryan is signed to a long-term (and very expensive) deal and it doesn't make any sense for Atlanta to trade him.

The Falcons' approach should be to improve their defense and surround Ryan with elite playmakers (sorry, Michael Turner and Roddy White). Ryan is the kind of guy they can build around, and that should be their draft strategy going forward.

If Ryan can become more of a game manager than a Tom Brady/Aaron Rodgers-style guy who teams depend on to be spectacular on a week-to-week basis, Atlanta could finally make a deep playoff run.