Joe Flacco vs Matt Ryan (Updated & Extended)

Forever these two young amazing quarterbacks will be linked together as they were both drafted in the 2008 NFL draft in the first round. "Matty Ice" Ryan was picked 3rd and "Joe Cool" Flacco was selected 18th. Both started their rookie campaigns at the helm of their team’s offense on the field. Though Ryan was touted as the better quarterback coming from the ACC and Flacco was considered a project from a minor college in Delaware, who turned out to be the better quarterback sofar?

Lets take a look and see how both have fared sofar in their 1st and 2nd year:

Joe Flacco Beats Matt Ryan Soundly

It has become clear after two years that the Ravens made the right choice. Even if it wasn’t their first choice, as it became clear that Ozzie tried to find a way to trade himself into one of the top 3 draft spots to select Matt Ryan. When those plans failed, Ozzie was no less excited about Joe Flacco. The kid with a rocket for an arm, a humble attitude and a proven winner. After trading back down and then back up Joe Flacco was selected and Baltimore erupted.

At the beginning of the year, everyone had hoped Flacco would immediately take over, but having come from a smaller college and still learning on the job, he became the 3rd string quarterback behind Kyle Boller and Heismann Trophy winner Troy Smith.

Due to unfortunate events for both Kyle (shoulder injury) and Troy (infection & illness) Joe Flacco became the starter by default. Neither Kyle or Troy started a game since. Kyle has since moved on to play for the St. Louis Rams and Troy has actively sought a trade. It seems that Flacco took the reigns firmly in hand and has no plans on letting go for a while. In his first season he took the Baltimore Ravens to the AFC Championship game where a costly interception after a boneheaded special teams play cost them a trip to the Super Bowl. He became the first rookie quarterback (with a rookie headcoach) to win 2 playoff games on the road. In his second year, he played through several ailing injuries to his leg and ankle as well as the standard bruises to his upperbody, but still managed to go to the playoffs where they firmly dismantled a proud New England franchise 33-14 before laying another egg against the hated Indianapolis Colts.

Matt Ryan on the other hand came into the Atlanta Falcons franchise as the hope for a better future, after Michael Vick has disgraced the franchise with an illegal dog fighting ring and the inhumane treatment of those dogs. It didn’t take him very long to make a mark for himself and create a jumpstart for this team as the new leader by throwing a 62-yard touchdown pass on his very first official regular season NFL pass. A fresh start was just what this team needed as Matt Ryan took his team to the playoffs as well as winning the Rookie Offensive Player of the Year Award. Unfortunately they fell to the Arizona Cardinals in the wildcard playoff round. After being eliminated for playoff contention in week 15 of the 2009 season, a 9-7 record presented the Falcons with their first back-to-back winning seasons in franchise history.

Conclusion:

Both of these quarterbacks are franchise players. They make it much easier for the GM’s to build a team around them. To me it seems that Joe Flacco is going to the next level with help from his new quartersbacks coach Jim Zorn and continue his path to greatness. Matt Ryan on the other hand has to show that last year was a sophomore slump by taking his next step and improving on his numbers from his rookie season. Because even though Joe Flacco was considered being in a sophomore slump last year, he still improved in nearly every important category.

That is the difference for me choosing "Joe Cool" Flacco as the better quarterback. Congrats Joe!