Matt Ryan for MVP? ESPN Thinks So

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan won the MVP in 2016, and ESPN pegs him as a top candidate in 2022.

Matt Ryan is coming off one of his worst seasons with one of his worst teams in his 14-year NFL career. He failed to breach the 4,000-yard mark for the first time in a decade, but Bill Barnwell of ESPN thinks Ryan is a legit candidate for MVP with the Indianapolis Colts.

Barnwell sees the real possibility of a bounce-back season for Ryan with a Colts team around him that is significantly more talented than the Atlanta Falcons team he toiled for the last several seasons.

"Since winning MVP during the 2016 season, Ryan's Total QBR has either declined or stayed stagnant in each of the subsequent five seasons," writes Barnwell. "The "stagnant" season saw him improve narrowly from 59.6 to 59.8 between 2019 and 2020. Ryan was all the way down at 46.1 a year ago, good enough for 21st in the league. He ranked 21st in DVOA and 18th in yards per attempt, passer rating, net yards per attempt and adjusted net yards per attempt. He wasn't the problem with the Falcons, but Ryan wasn't able to keep them afloat, either."

The Falcons have the most dead cap space in the NFL with just over $63 million allocated to players not on the roster... a good chunk of that to Ryan. They have the worst roster in the league according to CBS Sports.

Prime Tom Brady or Joe Montana wasn't keeping that team afloat.

"Now, of course, things are different," continues Barnwell. "Ryan was traded to Indianapolis, where the Colts can protect him on the interior and rely on heavy doses of running back Jonathan Taylor. Ryan moves from what had been one of the toughest divisions (NFC South) to arguably its weakest (AFC South), and he still gets the benefit of playing in a dome.

Rodgers made his leap back into the elite class during his age-37 season. Can Ryan do the same in his?"

The NFC South had been one of the tougher divisions, but it's one of the weaker divisions in the NFL right now... and was last year. 

The Colts are primed to leapfrog the Tennessee Titans in 2022, but Taylor and the Colts running game is still likely to be the primary force. Looking at the Titans as an example, Ryan could emulate Ryan Tannehill's 2020 season in which the Titans went 11-5.

Tannehill threw for 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions while Derrick Henry set the table for the Titans. The Colts attack could look similar with Taylor again leading the NFL in rushing and setting up Ryan's passing attack.

Tannehill had nowhere near the credentials that Ryan brings to the Colts, so expectations are certainly high for him his first year in Indianapolis.

But Ryan doesn't have to be an MVP candidate for the Colts to win and win big. However, it's an indication the ability Ryan has that he's being discussed as a possible MVP and the expectations for the Colts in 2022.