If He Were to Retire Today is Matt Ryan a HOF Quarterback?

[///mcompact]

Hall of Very Good a long with Rivers and Romo. 

[JonMcC2018]

I think if the Falcons win that Super Bowl he would be an absolute lock. Huge bulk stats, MVP, Super Bowl MVP, top 10 QB all his career.

But without that Super Bowl win I think he struggles to get in.

Which is of course ridiculous as it means his entire career boils down to a few plays in a single game, but perception is everything for these types of thing.

[JonMcC2018]

I've also rewatched that Super Bowl a couple of times and apart from one terrible sack he doesn't even play badly in that 3rd/4th quarter. The Falcons got gassed, other players made some critical errors and the Gods shined on the Patriots down the stretch.

[Coffee & Contemplation]

Absolutely not.

- He has great stats when compared to HOF QBs from previous eras, but his stats aren't standouts in his own era.

- Aside from 2016, he's never been even close to the conversation of "Best QB in the league."

- One MVP award doesn't make the cut, there are several other league MVPs not in the Hall.

- No ring : It isn't a must-have, but it helps.

- Look at all the guys from his era who will go in: Peyton, Brady, Rodgers, Brees are all locks. Ben and Eli are locks, less because of their talents and more because they each have two rings. Wilson is making a case for himself (probably will make it), Mahomes is on a HOF trajectory. Ryan in no way belongs in that first group, he doesn't have any rings, much less two, and the last two have already done more than Ryan in less time. That's a crowded field and I just don't see where Ryan fits in.

Others have said it, but yeah, Romo and Rivers are those most comparable to him at this point.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Coffee & Contemplation

[Mr Bad Example]

17 hours ago, scar988 said:

Let's be honest, he played in an era with the best of the best. Brady, Manning, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Eli, Brees, and he was consistently in the mix with Roethlisberger and Rivers for that QB5 spot. If anything, you could say that Young and Aikman weren't even top 5 QBs most years they played and they still got in. This isn't a legit argument.

Young's career had a strange shape, but he was the best QB in the league (or at least in the argument) for a 7 yr stretch. That's HoF. Ryan being in the mix for QB5, even granting it's an era of peak QB, makes me put him on the bubble. 

 

Aikman doesn't belong in the HoF. He's the Bob Griese (who shouldn't be in either) of the 90s. 

[tyler735]

Lol no chance

[Forge]

He's straddling the line. Wouldn't care or be shocked if he doesn't, won't complain if he does. Kind of the same way I feel about frank gore

[Jakuvious]

He should not. If he does something monumental between now and the end of his career (2nd MVP, superbowl win, a few seasons as an all-pro), then sure. But if Ryan makes it, we reach the point where I worry about how many QBs from that late 2000s into the 2010s stretch we're going to be putting in. Favre and Warner are already there, who were winding down as Ryan started. Peyton is in as well. Brees, Brady, and Rodgers should all be locks. Wilson is approaching that territory, though he started a couple years later. I feel like Rivers and Ben were better QBs, while Eli's resume will get him there. Stafford would really only need an accolade or two to catch Ryan's resume, and he's in the place to do it right now. Personally, I'm just not overly fond of the idea of there being like 12 hall of fame QBs playing within like a 4 year range of time, from like '09 to '12. I think the line needs drawn in there somewhere, and I don't see Ryan on the right side of that line. Granted, I wouldn't put Eli in either, and I think they will, and I'd be on the fence with Ben and Rivers, so maybe my standard is just higher than it should be.

But like, the '90s had what, 8 hall of fame QBs? Montana, Kelly, Aikman, Favre, Young, Elway, Moon, Marino? I feel like all of them had something really stand out. Montana, Kelly, Favre, Young, Elway, and Aikman all had superbowls. Kelly didn't win, but the number he made still stands out by comparison. Marino was considered the GOAT passer, particularly statistically. Moon was the GOAT in another league, and even he at least had like 10 straight pro-bowls to his name. And that's the weakest and most arguable of the bunch. Like, following that standard, I don't see how Ryan looks like a hall of fame QB. Sure, he was competing against other great QBs for stuff like MVP, superbowls, and all-pros, but that's always the case, isn't it? The hall is for guys who still stand out when compared to the best the world has to offer. Not guys who did pretty well for a long time but never were great like that.

IMO, the voters are going to have to alter their standard for QBs as this next crop comes up. There's going to be a lot of guys retiring in the near future that are way up there in passing stats, but really didn't have special careers, they just came around when passing stats exploded, and IMO some of those guys do need to be kept out, to establish a new standard for what statistical performance gets you in the hall as a QB.

The opposite is going to have to happen at RB, as guys just aren't going to get 10k rushing yards anymore.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

I do not believe he's a HOF Quarterback.

[ET80]

Maybe during a really thin year of candidates. I don't see it given his body of work.

He's probably one of the best players in the hypothetical "Hall of Very Good" though.

[vegas492]

[Danger]

Much like Phillip Rivers, he'd be in the hall of very good, in my book.

[diamondbull424]

Hall of very good. Just don’t think his impact on the league was enough to reward him with HOF.

I think Manning, Brady, Brees, Rodgers are absolute locks. From there I’d put Big Ben in because of his impact on the league via his clutch playoff factor during that mini Steelers dynasty and his unique playing style of backyard football that stood out. He was a participant in what was the NFL’s “best rivalry” for roughly a decade. The story is there.

While I don’t think Eli should make it nor is he better than Rivers and Ryan, I think from the perspective of “Hall of Fame” his wins vs the Patriots dynasty are some of the most memorable moments of the last quarter century of football. So he also has the story.

Personally from an impact to the league and narrative (‘Fame’) perspective, I’d put Mike Vick in before I put Ryan. 3 PBs in 7 seasons vs 4 PBs in 13 seasons, highlight factor, something we had never seen before and not again for nearly another decade after he initially left the league, an impact to some of the current era of QBs, the unquantifiable impact his legs had on elevating his squad, the mythos surrounding his ability and athleticism.

All those things I’d value more than the narrative that Ryan brings to the table. But that’s just me.

[Daniel]

No.

[Malik]

Shouldn't even be in the conversation. He's Tony Romo with longevity. Are we going to say Romo would have been a hall of famer if he played 3 or 4 more season?