Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is a pretty popular guy. If you’

re one of those outlier Falcons fans that doesn’t like Ryan or wishes the Falcons would move on from him sooner rather than later Brandon Fusco Jersey 2019 , then stop reading now, because this article isn’t for you. There are playoff games and a Super Bowl on the horizon, but if you’re like me, then you’re already bored with the offseason. It got me thinking about a variety of things, including whether riced cauliflower was invented by vegans to punish meat eaters. But also this: if Ryan had a positional WAR, what would it be? If you’re not a baseball or professional basketball fan, then you may not be familiar with WAR. Basically it’s a statistical measurement used to assess your contributions to the team you play for. It’s also an acronym for “wins above replacement.” It envisions a replacement level player and juxtaposes that player with the subject player. In other words, how much more (or less) does a particular player contribute to the team than a league average player under the same circumstances? Let’s look at Ryan’s 2018 from a few different angles to hazard a guess at this. Ryan’s QBR (ESPN’s flagship quarterback metric) was 68.2, 9th in the NFL. He threw for 4,638 yards Black Terrell McClain Jersey , third most in the NFL. His DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) in 2019, arguably the closest we get to positional WAR in the NFL, was 18.2 percent, 4th in the NFL. (That means he was 18.2 percent better per play than an average quarterback.)The best players in the MLB last season had WARs between 10 and 11. I realize WAR is the product of a fancy algorithm, so this is nothing more than a time-consuming exercise to help us pass the time. But if I had to guess, I’d put Ryan’s WAR around 7. He’s way above average, but I doubt he’s worth double digits WAR. Your thoughts? Things didn’t go according to plan. Is there anything to like?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Library FalcFans Podcast on The FalcoholicContact The FalcoholicFalcons StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Falcons NewsYahoo Falcons Team PageYahoo Falcons ReportYahoo Falcons Depth ChartYahoo Falcons TransactionsYahoo Falcons PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕About last night: Figuring out Atlanta’s round 1New,120commentsThings didn’t go according to plan. Is there anything to like?EDTShareTweetShareShareAbout last night: Figuring out Atlanta’s round 1Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY SportsThe highs and lows of the NFL draft can be as extreme as watching a football game. Ed Oliver, the presumed top prospect for the Falcons, fell on draft night. The Falcons were not going to trade up to 3 for him but he was suddenly available at 7. The Falcons have a good relationship with the Jaguars Terrell McClain Jersey 2019 , and if they could not work out a deal there, the Lions were reportedly strongly shopping 8.Both teams stuck with their picks and Oliver fell into Buffalo’s lap. Hopes across Atlanta were dashed.Next came the draft’s top offensive lineman, Jonah Williams, and the next best defensive tackle, Christian Wilkins. The Falcons did not trade up. At least not yet. They also did not go with a big name that dropped like in 2018. Atlanta grabbed arguably the top guard in the draft in Chris Lindstrom, then snuck back into the first round for new right tackle Kaleb McGary.It was a weird night.The goodThe Falcons have finally, finally, finally truly addressed the offensive line. The one constant for Matt Ryan has been a piecemeal line that has only occasionally looked competent (see 2016). We wanted to the Falcons to focus on the trenches and they did that last night.Make no mistake that Lindstrom is easily the most talented guard Ryan has ever had in his career. Scouting reports suggest both players should be ready to contribute immediately, meaning we should see an entirely new offensive line. Both Lindstrom and McGary are highly athletic, mean Jordan Miller Atlanta Falcons Jersey , and reasonably polished. They are clearly big upgrades for Ryan and the offense.If a player is perceived as a reach in April doesn’t really matter in September. If Ryan gets good protection and returns to his All Pro form, fans will forget passing on a bigger name defensive player.The badIt is hard to not remember the 2014 offseason after seeing the team ignore bigger needs and surprisingly double down on other positions. In fact, that 2014 storyline first started rearing its head before last night. Both new draft pick should be battling to start with a player the team just paid. I assume the Falcons like Ty Sambrailo because they decided to pay him $5.25 million in 2019, but not enough to immediately find a replacement. The Falcons shockingly kept Brandon Fusco and his $4 million base salary then immediately signed two more guards. More shocking is they kept him after March 17 when $1 million of that salary guarantees. New guards James Carpenter and Jamon Brown received $8.25 and $12.75 million guaranteed, respectively.There’s a possibility the Falcons have well over $10 million of cap space dedicated to backup offensive linemen. Depth is great but that is embarrassing for a team so close to the cap. Two above average defensive veterans would have been a big help. Things clearly did not go to plan.The uglyFree agency made it clear the Falcons were going to address the defense often and early in the draft. Dave Choate said ignoring the defensive line would be malpractice. I predicted we would see upwards of 80% of the draft picks end up on defense. 2018 showed the team desperately lacked depth at multiple key positions. Now the Falcons need to work magic in the 4th and later rounds, and hope Vic Beasley and Takkarist McKinley dramatically improve.Our best hope is the offense carrying this team and the defense doing enough to not lose games. With the improved offensive line that could be pretty easy but this defense will not be pretty.