The Atlanta Falcons passed on taking a quarterback in the 2021 NFL draft and will continue to roll with Matt Ryan for another year at the very least. Entering season No. 14 as the team’s starting quarterback, the perception around Ryan still varies widely throughout the league.
The Falcons’ signal-caller finally made an appearance on NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms’ countdown of the top 40 QBs in the NFL. Ryan landed at No. 15 overall on Simms’ list — eight spots lower than he was ranked entering 2020.
There is a large faction of Falcons fans, and NFL fans in general, who would place the former MVP higher on the list, but Simms went over a few key points as to why Ryan fell as far as he did.
“Matt Ryan is still very capable of playing at a very high level,” stated Simms on his podcast. “He is phenomenal at throwing the football between 10 and 20 yards.”
It’s true that Ryan is among the best passers in the league when throwing intermediate passes. He was No. 1 in the NFL on first-down passes, fifth in completion percentage and tenth in passer rating in 2021. Simms criticized Ryan for failing to take charge when things have gone wrong.
“You cant wait until its 24-0 to start making something happen,” Simms emphasized. The NBC Sports analyst expressed the same concern with Ryan’s demeanor at the end of games as well.
“I have the same kind of feeling for him closing out games too, a little bit, at times. I know you’re up by seven or 10, but there’s a guy 20 yards downfield, and it was a little bit of a tight window, but you got to make the throw, you’re Matt Ryan,” Simms continued. “And you took the five-yard completion and punted, now they went down and scored and you guys lost.”
However, the biggest caveat here is that a lot of these situations came down to play-calling more than Ryan’s ability. For example, the Falcons were ahead by two scores the last time Ryan touched the ball against the Cowboys and still lost.
There are some physical limitations to Ryan’s game, though. Anything beyond 45 yards tends to be hit or miss. As shown below, Ryan misses an easy score by underthrowing Julio Jones and allowing him to get tackled as he catches it.
Down 28 to 12, you’d like to see Matt Ryan get more underneath the football. Air yards seem to be about 45ish. I get Jones’ frustration. pic.twitter.com/WoE5mR2BF3
— #CRO 🇭🇷 | Falcons Wire (@Deen_NFL) June 6, 2021
In this next play, Ryan once again misses his target by not putting enough on the ball. Only this time, it would cost the Falcons four points and a potential win against the Chargers.
Considering the Falcons lost this game by 3, these are the moments that could’ve turned that loss into a win. Better ball placement and this is an easy 7. This pass is about 45 yards in the air.
A better defender and this ball is intercepted. pic.twitter.com/6h7gDdtqlp
— #CRO 🇭🇷 | Falcons Wire (@Deen_NFL) June 6, 2021
Several fans were put off by Julio Jones’ comments insinuating that Ryan can’t throw deep, but as we can see, there are numbers and film to support Jones’ claim.
Nonetheless, Ryan still has a ton of things he does very well and with a more modern scheme tailored to his skill set, there’s a chance he can get back to playing at an elite level this season.
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