Two words - Michael Vick. It's too early to tell whether or not Matt Ryan is going to be polished and poised NFL quarterback. The Atlanta Falcons have a public relations nightmare on their hands and the sooner they can wash their hands of it, the better. Whether Matt Ryan is ready to start in the NFL will up for debate for the next month and a half, when training camps open and the preseason gets underway. The bottom line is that Falcons have an image problem that needs to be corrected.

At one time, the Falcons had Joey Harrington and I believe Byron Leftwich on their roster after they were released by the Detroit Lions and the Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively. The Falcons were doing anything they could to get some NFL experience under center and to get past the Vick debacle. Desperate times call for desperate measures and the Falcons were indeed desperate.

At this stage, it is not a question of whether Ryan is ready to step on on the first Sunday of the season and start for the Falcons. Atlanta didn't sign him to his contract to have him sit for long. They need him on the field to justify what they did and why they did it. Ryan seems like he is ready to go, or at least his attitude is such that he is confident enough to lead his new team, and that is a good sign. But the drafting of Ryan was a way for Atlanta to get past what they experienced last year and to get one with the project of building a quality football team.

Should Ryan start on the first weekend of the season? The experts are mixed in their opinion of this situation. Most are saying it is justified to start him, given the circumstances. The reality is he won't be learning standing on the sidelines. He can only learn on the field. Today's NFL demands that rookies make some kind of contribution during the rookie season and the only way Ryan can contribute is to take snaps and lead his team.

I am rooting for Matt Ryan to do well and for the Falcons to get past this disaster. Both parties are in a no win situation. The fans will be demanding that Ryan start because of the money he will be making. His development will be baptism by fire. The Falcons have journeyman quarterbacks on their roster, so they will be pressed to do something if they are slow out of the gate to start the 2008 season. The fans will not want to see a lot of losing early. If they do, the chants for Ryan will grow louder if he isn't starting.

There are NFL teams in far worse shape than the Falcons, but none of them are dealing with the PR disaster that resulted with the Michael Vick arrest. Anytime one is associated with negative publicity, they want to distance themselves from it as soon as possible. This is what I see Atlanta doing this fall. They will be forced, like it or not, to start Ryan and let the chips fall where they may.

I'm sure when the Falcons traded for the rights to draft Michael Vick, this wasn't something they were bargaining for. However, the situation played itself out and the Falcons were forced to make a decision in this year's draft. They made it and now it's time to find out if Ryan was worth the pick.

Learn more about this author, Rich Briggs.
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