Group Chat Chronicles: Is Matt Ryan a Hall of Famer?
It started off innocently enough. Our group chat, Female Futbol School, discussing how Joe Flacco has been added to the Pro Bowl roster; the first of his career. A quick comment linking Joe Flacco and the Hall of Fame when instigator Alex Boven commented "Matt Ryan even with a Super Bowl would not get to the Hall of Fame imo." Okay, Alex.
What commenced was a tense back and forth that ranged from Matt Ryan's career stats to comparing a long list of QBs not currently in the HOF (some retired, some active) including Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Josh Allen, Jim Kelly, Joe Namath, Matt Stafford, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Big Ben, and I'm likely missing a few. So let's take a dive into if Matt Ryan deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Ryan was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the #3 pick in the 2008 draft. He spent the first 14 of his 15 year career in Atlanta before spending his last season with the Indianapolis Colts. Ryan is ranked in the top 10 all time in the three main quarterback statistics; #9 in all time passing yards (62,792), #10 in passing TDs (381), and #7 in completions (5,551). Of his counterparts in the Top 10, three are in the HOF (Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre), three are retired but not yet eligible (Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Phillip Rivers), and two are still active (Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers).
The major distinction is that Matt Ryan has never won a Super Bowl; infamously part of the 28-3 blown lead to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Phillip Rivers is the only other QB among the discussed top-10 who has also never won a Super Bowl. But Ryan has something Rivers does not in the NFL MVP he won in 2016. Should a lack of Super Bowls alone omit Ryan from consideration when other Hall of Fame quarterbacks also never won a Super Bowl? Of the existing ten, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly are the main two and Warren Moon was the last inductee in class of 2006. Perhaps the appetite of voters to elect a a QB to the HOF without a Super Bowl ring has diminished over the last two decades.
Pro Football Reference calculates the HOFm (Hall of Fame Monitor score) which indicates a players chance of election to the HOF. 100 is the average hall of famer at a player's position. Ryan holds a HOFm of 106.5, which is higher than HOF quarterbacks Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Kurt Warner, and others. Ryan's has a career playoff record of 4-6; all six losses came against teams who would make it to the Super Bowl. He orchestrated 38 fourth quarter comebacks which is fifth all time behind only Brady, Manning, Roethlisberger, and Stafford.
Should Matt Ryan be in the Hall of Fame? His stats say yes. Will his lack of Super Bowls prevent him? Time will tell whether Alex is right.