Well, he did just get a 1000 yard season out of Harry Douglas. Not that Id say that makes him elite, but it says something about his ability to elevate other players.
The team was 4-12 though. It's not all on him but he didn't really help.
Having one of the five worst defenses didn't help, nor did missing Julio Jones for the bulk of the season, or Roddy White not being healthy till December. Ryan still had a solid season, all things considered. No, he's not elite, but he's in that 7-10 range.
They also had the worst running game. Trent Richardson would have been an upgrade.
Which is why I snicker when people say his supporting cast has been elite. People look at Roddy and Julio on paper and assume so much. Julio just finished his third season and missed most of it. While freakishly athletic, he wasn't an elite WR his first two seasons. He put up promising but inconsistent numbers as the secondary target on his team and has had his share of games missed due to being dinged up. And Harry Douglas is now considered an elite third WR now? Michael Turner and Steven Jackson? Really? That's his elite backfield? Tony Gonzalez was an upgrade, but let's not kid ourselves about him being elite anymore, either.
Ryan hasn't been scraping the bottom of the barrel, but let's temper this supporting cast nonsense. It's humorous that #2 in attempts and #4 in yards is somehow seen as an indictment.
Haha, yeah, snicker away. It's almost like Michael Turner was always a 32 year old fat guy. Let's just ignore 2008-2011 where he was dominant. Actually, from 2008 to 2012, the Falcons were 9th in rushing yards and 6th in rushing TDs. And Julio Jones was a JAG his first two years, right? His 2000+ yards, 16 YPR, and 18 TDs could've been produced by anybody. And you're right, Tony G wasn't elite when he came to Atlanta. I mean, he just came off of back-to-back seasons with over 95 receptions and almost 1100 yards when he came to ATL. Clearly a shell of his former self. And you're right, I see people calling Harry Douglas an elite WR all over this thread... except not. A little reading comprehension and you'd see I've only said that he's not a scrub like you guys want to make him out to be. Nobody said he was elite.
Geez, Ryan apologists are delusional. He had a good run game to prop him up his first few years in the league while he was averaging a Bradford-esque 6.5 YPA. Then he gets a trio of Julio, White, and Gonzo with 600 attempts a season and he's still not able to keep up with the elite QBs with worse weapons and less attempts. Finally, we got to see how he did this year without the run game and without all the receiving talent and how did he look? Like an average QB with 615 attempts. Surprise surprise.
First, I never said Julio was JAG - nice strawman there. But he wasn't an elite WR either. He was a talented but developing player like many rookie WR's are. So it's not like Ryan has had two elite WR's on either side for his career. And in 2013, when Julio is coming into his prime and White should still be effective, they both are injured so Ryan never really has the benefit of both.
Second, Turner did have some good years...when Ryan was young and developing. Turner hasn't been good for years.
Third, Gonzalez is past his prime. Even in 2012 he was a shadow of his former self. An upgrade in Atlanta? For sure. But people act as if it was the dominant Gonzalez that rolled into Atlanta, not the aging and declining one that KC let go.
If you make a list of the players he has played with, Ryan does look to have had a great supporting cast. But if you look at the fact that they haven't all been in Atlanta, or at the their peak, during the same seasons, it's not nearly as impressive. Like I said, 2013 was going to be a good year, but we saw how injuries derailed that opportunity.
That said, I don't think he's elite. He's pretty good and he's the kind of guy that can put up elite numbers when he has the supporting cast.
while he threw 6 more INTs, his season's stats weren't that different from Tom Brady's.
I set up no straw man. I asked a question. I mean, sure, I'll grant that he wasn't "elite" as a rookie, but on only 94 targets in 13 games, he put up almost 1000/8. On a per touch or per target basis, that's pretty close to elite and one of the best WR2s in the league.
