Tough call, but Falcons had to take Ryan

Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette is over at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium to cover the NFL draft. This is his early first-round entry for Saturday April 26.


When former Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Smith took the Atlanta Falcons head coaching job, there were so many holes to fill that it'd be hard to miss with the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
As tempting as it was to take LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, and the Falcons needed an impact interior lineman to replace Rod Coleman, they did the right thing by selecting Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan.
The NFL is a quarterback-driven league and the Falcons couldn't afford to gamble that whoever is their second choice (Joe Flacco or Brian Brohm) would be available with the 34th overall pick.
You could argue that the Falcons' starting quarterback will struggle mightily in 2008 no matter who it is, but if Atlanta's brass is convinced that Ryan has the right stuff to be successful, then it's imperative you grab him because nothing is more important than having stability under center.
I believe Ryan has the makeup to be a good one because he made Boston College a relevant team despite not having any big-time weapons. Other than tackle Gosder Cherilus, the Eagles weren't a club loaded with future NFL prospects. Yet Ryan had a knack for pulling out close games when his team needed big drives in the closing minutes.
This marks the sixth consecutive draft that a quarterback has been taken in the top three picks. The jury is still out on the last three quarterbacks that were the first to go off the board -- JaMarcus Russell, Vince Young and Alex Smith -- but the Cincinnati Bengals' Carson Palmer (2003) and the New York Giants' Eli Manning (2004) eventually validated the position in which they were chosen.
Smith has a huge rebuilding job ahead. It may be a couple years before the Falcons can recover from the debacle of Michael Vick's professional decline and the bizarre departure of former coach Bob Petrino.
By taking the best quarterback in this draft, the Falcons took the necessary gamble to eventually get back on track.