With Matt Ryan’s fumbling problem, should the Colts regret trading for the veteran quarterback?
Matt Ryan has struggled to protect the football while with the Indianapolis Colts. Could the franchise be regretting the decision to trade for him?
Matt Ryan has played four official games with the Indianapolis Colts. In those games, Indianapolis is 1-2-1 and has the worst scoring offense in the NFL with just 14.3 points a game. Additionally, Ryan is responsible for eight total turnovers; five interceptions, and three lost fumbles. In total, Ryan has fumbled the ball nine times in four games.
This wasn’t the quarterback that Colts fans were promised during the offseason. When Ryan arrived in Indianapolis, everyone in the organization was raving about his veteran leadership and attention to detail. Obviously, Ryan wasn’t in a position to fumble the ball during the offseason but his fumbling problem through the first four games is very un-veteran-like of him.
With Ryan struggling, and things not playing out so far how Indianapolis hoped, is it possible that the franchise could be regretting the decision to trade for Matt Ryan this past offseason?
Was Matt Ryan the right move for the Colts?
This fumbling issue is a new shortcoming for Ryan, it’s not something that has been constant throughout his career. Ryan has had seasons with 10, 11, and 12 fumbles but that’s over the course of a full season. He’s never fumbled the football at the rate that he currently is fumbling this season, so it’s not like Indianapolis could’ve seen this coming.
Additionally, it may be hard to accept because of Indy’s record and the gravity of Ryan’s fumbles, but Matt Ryan has been playing well outside of the costly turnovers. He currently has the fourth most passing yards in the NFL with 1,125 and he’s completing 66.2% of his passes.
In just four games, Ryan already has two outings where he’s efficiently thrown for over 350 yards, unfortunately, neither of those games resulted in wins for the Colts. All of Ryan’s yards haven’t turned into points and that’s because Indy’s offense either eventually stalls or they have an untimely turnover. So we can’t just omit the turnovers while evaluating Ryan because they’re often difference makers in the outcome of games.
But, we can acknowledge that when Ryan isn’t fumbling the ball, and he’s given time to throw, he’s playing quality football. That may be a triggering sentence because it’s similar to the things that were said in Indianapolis with last year’s quarterback, so it’s understood why fans are so fed up with Ryan’s fumbles. However, it’s a safe bet to assume that Ryan will correct the fumbling issue and that the positive aspects of his game will be able to gain more recognition.
When that happens, it will become clear that trading for Ryan wasn’t a mistake or a move that the Colts should regret making.
