OPINION:Falcons want quarterbacks? What's wrong with them?
The NFL Draft is about a week away. Hide the children, turn off the television, stay away from the rumor mill and bury your head in the sand.
Things get ridiculous around this time of year. Typically, I tend to laugh at the rumors and the hot takes by the Falcons’ fan base who get bored in the midst of the slow period between the aggressive start to free agency and the lull of draft preview stories, workout videos and the lists of visits that trickle out.
This week one hit me in the gut as so absurd that it almost made sense.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport coined the Falcons “strangely interested” in trading up to select a quarterback in the NFL Draft in 2020.
Excuse me?
The Falcons’ quarterback is Matt Ryan. That’s just who it is. There isn’t a question. A league Most Valuable Player trophy sits on his mantle earned just three years ago. Despite injuries to top targets Austin Hooper, Calvin Ridley, running back Ito Smith, Devonta Freeman, the bumps and bruises of Julio Jones and the revolving door along the offensive line, Ryan managed to put together a highly respectable campaign in 2019 as a 34-year-old.
He put up 4,466 yards, which was fifth in the NFL, 26 touchdowns, which was tied for eighth in the NFL, 14 interceptions and a 66.2 percent completion percentage. Ryan may not be the MVP he was in 2016 but he’s no Eli Manning either.
There isn’t a reason to even be thinking about anyone else.
Or is there?
