Here was an interesting tidbit from the Pro Football Focus review of the Falcons' victory at Denver on Sunday:
“Matt Ryan continues to give this offense timely deep shots when the opportunities are there going 3 for 5 102 yards on throws traveling 20 plus yards in the air Sunday. Ryan currently ranks 2nd in the NFL with 482 yards coming on 20 plus yard throws and 3rd in accuracy at 63.2%.”
Well, look at that. Matt Ryan, pilloried by critics for a lack of arm strength, is among the best deep ball passers in the NFL through Week 5. And he’s done so after he only had eight pass attempts of more than 20 yards downfield through three weeks.
I’ve always scratched my head at how media and fans fixate on arm strength in quarterbacks. I mean, I get why people like big arms. It’s fun to watch QBs who can rifle the ball down field. It satisfies the desire to see athletes do things the average person can’t.
But arm strength often is treated as the most important ability for QBs in spite of the many, many examples of good QBs who don’t/didn’t have particularly big arms/deep accuracy for significant portions of their careers: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, etc.
Certainly am strength is not unimportant. It's just that there are more important traits for an NFL quarterback: diagnosing defenses, anticipating open windows, "looking off" defenders, releasing the ball quickly, being aware in the pocket, making good decisions quickly, passing accurately, being tough, inspiring teammates.
To wit: Look at this (very good) Q&A with Ryan in ESPN The Magazine. He talks to author David Fleming about how defenses have become much more sophisticated and unpredictable during his time in the league. Ryan goes through all of the things a QB has to read before the snap, how he has to "see spots" once the ball is snapped instead of getting bogged down overthinking coverages and how "understanding space by reading body language is probably the most important thing."
The last two answers are telling:
Ryan: We are under constant barrage in the pocket now. Facing it requires a certain feel, a sixth sense. Because the minute you're looking at the edge rush and not downfield, you're toast. That's what separates quarterbacks now, the ability to process all that information in a millisecond, make a good decision based off that snapshot and then to physically be able to get the ball to where you want it to go.
Fleming: I just realized we haven't even gotten to all the physical challenges of playing QB yet.
Exactly.
Ryan puts "physically (being) able to get the ball where you want it to go" at the end of a very long list of challenges for NFL quarterbacks, and the vast majority of those throws will be short-to-intermediate. A big-armed NFL QB who can't handle the significant mental challenges won't make it.
Ryan can handle the cerebral aspects of playing QB. He's tough. He's accurate on the short-to-intermediate throws and, as he's showing this season, Ryan has a good-enough arm to connect on deep throws.
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