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It’s getting a little silly that we are even passing this along as news. Before the draft, Matt Ryan was tagged as a prospect with a mediocre arm. Here we are nearly a decade later and despite all evidence to the contrary, some still cling to some narrative that has been disproven for years.
Pro Football Focus, the analytics website that consults with NFL teams and has partnered with Chris Collinsworth, looked for the best deep ball passer since they started logging plays. They found last season’s MVP.
Playmaker on throws 20+ yards downfield. pic.twitter.com/zNPlsQWsr0
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) July 3, 2017
Lightning literally comes out of his passes exactly as shown. There’s no doubt there are other quarterbacks with a stronger arm (see: Russell, Jamarcus). There’s some finer points to passing than simply chucking the ball downfield, and PFF has been able to measure it.
Congrats to Matty Ice, and lets hope this number continues to go up.