AJC > Sports > Falcons > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 04
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Trust your eyes on Ryan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Forgot who told me this, might have been my trusted mentor Bob McGinn, the longtime and esteemed Green Bay Packers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but when covering a football team daily you have to “trust your eyes.”
Basically, what you see usually is the real deal and not a mirage.
Since the mini-camp, OTAs and the exhibition season, an inordinate amount of time has been used watching Matt Ryan’s every move.
You keep coming back to the same thing. Your eyes keep telling you that this kid looks like the real deal. I wondered if he could throw deep in the NFL. I knew he could in college because I stayed up late last year watching him rally from a poor performance to throw a couple of fourth-quarter knives in Virginia Tech’s neck.
At mini-camp, his timing was off on the deep balls at first. A few weeks later, he started dropping in long laser shots. He’s made all of the throws.
So Ryan is passing the eye test and you’re supposed to trust your eyes. Got that.
What I still can’t get is the history of rookie quarterback struggles in the NFL.
Here’s how some greats fared as rookie:
• Joe Montana, San Francisco: Lost his only rookie start. Completed 13-of-23 passes for 96 yards and no interceptions in 1979.
• Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh: Went 3-8 as a starter in 1971. Threw 24 interceptions and completed only 38.1 percent of his passes.
• Doug Williams, Tampa Bay: Was 4-6 as a rookie starter and completed just 37.8 percent of his passes.
Here are more recent examples of rookie QB struggles.
• Joey Harrington, Detroit: Went 3-9 as starter in 2002. Threw 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
• Carson Palmer, Cincinnati: Sat and watched Jon Kitna the entire 2003 season.
• Vince Young, Tennessee: Went 8-5 as a rookie in 2006. But struggled in the passing game, throwing 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
• Matt Leinart, Arizona: Went 4-7 as a rookie in 2006. Completed 56.8 percent of his passes, but threw 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
• Jay Cutler, Denver: Started five games and was 2-3 in the regular season.
Is Ryan going to be the next rookie QB to turn in a winning season like Vince Young and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 or will he struggle like just about everybody else? Let us know what you think.
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
