The Matt Ryan Issue

Admittedly I've been a lazy blogger of late, letting the ideas come to me rather than the other way around. Considering the lack of anything really newsworthy day in and day out, that has resulted in the blog suffering from a lack of substance.

In any case, I thought I'd post my two cents on the Matt Ryan issue. Many pundits, including Todd McShay at ESPN, and recently Mel Kiper (before he switched to Chris Long), had tabbed Ryan as Miami's #1 pick. I cringe every time I see this.

I don't know what the infatuation is with Matt Ryan. Sure, he is a gutsy guy who took his team to a few comebacks and a #2 ranking. Then again, Joey Harrington did the very same thing in 2001, leading his Ducks to a #2 ranking and only one loss. Look how that turned out for the Lions, Dolphins and Falcons.

Ryan gets compared to Tom Brady for some reason, which baffles me because Brady doesn't throw picks. Ryan throws them in bunches. Mind you he played in a weak ACC conference throughout his career. I would have liked to see him week in week out versus stout SEC defenses.

The truth is, many scouts don't even have Ryan as a 1st round grade, much less a #1 overall pick. There will always be a disparity in the evaluations by different scouts, but if you're supposed to get the best player in a given draft, then he is almost always a consensus Top 10 pick even by his naysayers.

Taking Ryan would be a disastrous move for this franchise. Maybe John Beck isn't the answer. He certainly hasn't proven anything to anyone other than that he is a nice guy who loves football. However, Matt Ryan is no Carson Palmer and no Peyton Manning. He isn't the surefire guy you don't mind handing over 35 million in guarantees to. If he slips to the 2nd round, I might consider taking him because Brohm might be gone and I'm not sure I like Flacco's attitude.

This team has way too many needs to be giving up on John Beck quite just yet, especially when there are safer and better players on the board at positions of greater need that quarterback.