Award-Winning Quarterback: Matt Ryan Named AP Offensive Rookie of the Year

Matt Ryan was brought to Atlanta courtesy of a coin flip, a third overall pick, and a lot of hopes and expectations.

With him came surprising play from a rookie quarterback. 

His steady and, at times, fearless play has brought winning ways to the Atlanta Falcons.

Ryan's Falcons finished the season 11-5 and last Sunday clinched the NFC's fifth playoff seed.

Every major media outlet, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ESPN, NFL.com, and CBS are reporting that Ryan has been named The Associated Press 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Ryan was the 11th highest-rated passer in the league this year, finishing with an 87.7 rating, 3,440 yards, 16 passing touchdowns (one rushing), and 11 interceptions.

With his 11 interceptions, Ryan has thrown the fewest of any rookie quarterback, who started all 16 games, in NFL history.

But Ryan's performance is about more than just numbers.

Given the keys at the beginning of the season to what looked like a broken offense, Ryan developed week-over-week, eventually calling his own plays and employing a no-huddle offense that allowed the Falcons to get off to quick starts and early leads. These quick starts led Atlanta to lead the league in first quarter scoring this season and an 8-0 record when they score first.

Additionally, Ryan is the first quarterback in Falcons team history to throw every pass in the season. He was timely, smart, accurate, and well protected.

While the voting was not completely unanimous, Ryan still ran away with it. He collected 44 of the 50 votes.

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson garnered three, Denver Broncos tackle Ryan Clady had two, and Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte received one. He is only the third quarterback to win the award (Ben Roethlisberger and Vince Young were the others in 2004 and 2006).

When asked about the award, Ryan, always short and to the point, said, "It's a great honor and to tell you the truth, I'm pretty humbled by it."

Atlanta Falcons fans hope this will be the first of many awards Matt Ryan places in his trophy case.

But they would all be trumped by what Ryan and the Falcons now have hope for:

A Super Bowl Championship ring.

This article originally appeared on the Atlanta Falcons Examiner page. To view, go here.