Is he a 'Franchise QB'?: Matt Ryan

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In football it's generally thought that if you have a 'Franchise QB' you are set for 10-15 years and will be able to contend if you put enough complementary pieces around that QB. Except for in the rare cases where the complementary pieces are stronger than the QB (85 Bears, 00 Ravens), it's basically a requirement that you need a good QB to be a Super Bowl contender.

In this thread, I will present to you a handful of players who are currently the undisputed starter for their team. These guys will not have won a Super Bowl before, since all of the QBs with a ring would likely be considered 'Franchise QBs'. This thread isn't for them. This is a thread for guys that may or may not have the talent to lead his team to a Super Bowl Championship. I will list the pros and cons of the player listed and then I'll open it up to you guys to decide if the said QB is capable of being labeled a 'Franchise QB'.

Please note: my definition of a 'Franchise QB' is a guy that is the center of your offense and won't ride the coattails of his defense to a title (Dilfer with the Ravens, Grossman on the Bears as examples of guys I WOULDN'T consider franchise QB's even though they won/made a Super Bowl as the Starting QB.
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The Flacco thread produced about what I expected - an almost even split (8-6 yes/no) and some good discussion about the Ravens QB. While this one I don't believe will have as much debate, you never know. Next up is the other starter from the 2008 Draft Class - Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan.

Yes, he's a 'Franchise QB'
-43-19 (69%) in his 4 years as a starter.
-First QB to lead them to back to back winning seasons and back to back playoff berths
-2/1 career TD/INT ratio, 60% comp., and a QB Rating of 88.4

No, he's not a 'Franchise QB'
-0-3 in the playoffs and has had rather disappointing games his last 2 times.
-Has relied on running game for much of his early success

It's tough to really put a lot against Ryan aside from that 0-3 playoff record. Yes he benefits somewhat from playing a guaranteed 9 games in domes (8 home and vs. NO) and having two other warm weathered teams in his division. But that's a pretty poor argument in itself because he doesn't schedule who or where he plays. Obviously the playoff record could become a problem, but 3 games is too small of a sample size, especially since all 3 teams he lost to ended up making/winning the Super Bowl. Also, let's not forget that Peyton Manning began his playoff career 3-6 before winning a Super Bowl. It's something that can happen with time. I'll say yes and be pretty confident with my decision, even if I don't think he'll ever reach 'best QB' status.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I have no issues saying yes. He's got a bad playoff record, but he's definitely got time to remedy that. Look at Tony Romo. His playoff record is bad too, but there's no question he's one of the better QB's in the league, though he's still fighting off the "choker" label.

Matt Ryan has shown that he can play well in big regular season games. He just hasn't found his stride in the playoffs yet. But he's only played 4 seasons. Your stats on Peyton Manning are a prime example of why there's no major concern yet. And I'm pretty sure most people would agree that Peyton Manning is one of the greatest QB's of all time. I'm not saying Matt Ryan is going to become Peyton Manning, I'm just saying many good QB's take time to find their playoff stride.

 

[Larry]

I'm going to say "Yes" but it's a begrudging yes. While Matt Ryan hasn't had the same defensive luxuries as Joe Flacco, he's had no shortage of tools to transfer into playoff success but simply hasn't been able to overcome in times of adversity. He's got Michael Turner who facilitates a fall back for him in the run game, he's got Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Tony Gonzales as reliable targets to hit, and the 9th ranked defense in the NFL which is certainly good enough to win, 6th in Pass Defense, 11th in Rush defense.

So why aren't they going further? I don't know that you can place the blame on Matt Ryan, but I don't know that you can completely absolve him either. This is a good enough team to make an AFC Championship run, especially in their division. Up until this next coming season they only had 1 real threat to worry about and that was the New Orleans Saints, a tall order, but still not insurmountable. This is where the plot thickens. You know where their offense ranks? 12th overall, 11th in rushing, 11th in passing. So you've got a team with a better defense than offense, and that points directly to the quarterback. Is he choking it up? Are his receivers unreliable after all? Is that fall back run game more brittle than at first glance? Is it possibly the O-line not doing their job as well as they should? I mean, if I hadn't given you the stats, where would you have ranked them on both sides of the ball? Likely higher in offense and lower in defense, but that's not the story.

What this shows me is that there are a lot of unanswered questions as it pertains to not only the Falcons as a team but Matt Ryan as a quarterback. Even if he doesn't have the best receivers or O-line, winners find ways around that, they get the ball to a guy, they extend the play, they come through in clutch situations. I don't see that being the case for Matt Ryan at the moment. If he hadn't delivered winning seasons and got at least TO the playoffs I would vote "NO", but he has won more than he's lost, and he is still developing as an NFL quarterback being only in his 4th year. I'd say with a little more time, and a few improvements as a team, it's only a matter of time until we see him in the AFC championship game, but until he does get over the hump in post season, the jury is still out on Matt Ryan.