NFL history: Each NFL franchise’s greatest quarterback of all time

Atlanta Falcons – Matt Ryan

Honorable mentions: Steve Bartkowski and Michael Vick

There have been some questions about whether the Atlanta Falcons‘ Matt Ryan is an elite quarterback along with the top five to 10 currently in the game. It’s been up and down the last four years for him, but he’s gone for over 35 touchdowns and just seven interceptions in both 2016 and 2018.

Ryan won NFL MVP in 2016, which also included being up 28-3 in the Super Bowl against New England. Had he held on, there wouldn’t be any question about where he stood in NFL history among the great quarterbacks.

But coming into his age-34 season (which is now considered not too old in the NFL these days), there is plenty of more time to cement his Pro Football Hall of Fame legacy that’s outside of the stats.

Even if Ryan decided to suddenly retire, he would be No. 1 as the greatest Falcons quarterback by as wide of a margin as anyone else will be on this list. He already has twice as many passing yards, touchdowns thrown and wins in franchise history than Steve Bartkowski, who’s the only other passer to eclipse the 15,000-yard mark.

Before Ryan, the Falcons never had a true franchise quarterback who started for more than six seasons. The hope over a decade ago was that Michael Vick would be that guy, with never-before-seen athletic explosiveness.

But the dogfighting scandal and soon after prison sentence ended his time with the franchise. It was perfect timing that Atlanta was able to draft Ryan out of Boston College just a couple of years later, becoming the best quarterback the franchise has ever had since its inception in 1966.