As I emerge from under a pile of rubble and overtime, I come with glad tidings from the FalcBlog, who tells us much of Ryan's chance of success. More accurately, Aaron of FalcFans takes umbrage to the idea that Ryan is so much worse a pick than Dorsey that the mammoth defensive tackle can be considered the better pick:
I won't dispute whether Dorsey was the better pick/player, but I disagree wholeheartedly with the notion that the gulf between the two is so significant that it makes taking Dorsey a "safe" pick and Ryan a risky one.
What he cites for statistics are actually pretty intriguing, as is a Peter King of SI fame nugget that says the Falcons would have likely drafted Chad Henne over Brian Brohm in the second round. Yes, that's right: we don't like quarterbacks from Southern colleges.
Further, a table from the invaluable Pro-Football Reference bears out Aaron's point. Look down that list and you'll see a lot of complete duds (Travis Johnson, Reggie McGrew), some decent players (Booger McFarland) and one guy who was a very solid regular for the last ten years (Trevor Pryce). While on paper Dorsey looks quite a bit better than any of them, who's to say?
While I do think defensive tackle needed to be addressed via the draft, I think it's time to lock up the Matty Ice haterade-drinking until he does something to earn our ire. While I still would rather have had Brohm and Dorsey, it doesn't sound like a lock that it would've even happened with this current batch o' management. While Ryan is extremely risky in terms of cash and fit, there's no denying that a great career from him would go a long way toward erasing our woes.
So I salute Aaron on this one, and I for one will try to welcome our Boston College overlord. May he earn the coveted respect of we woebegone Falcons fans, who really would like to hand it over.