Hopefully, for the Atlanta Falcons, my assessment is totally off the mark.
But I will say this: The Falcons will be making a terrible mistake if they opt to force Ryan to start as a rookie, even if their alternatives are Chris Redman and Joe Harrington.
But I fear for Ryan that a franchise seeking to turn the page – borrowing an overused phrase employed by the TV draft analysts -- on the Michael Vick Era is bent on doing just that.
Ryan's face is plastered all over the team's website. Some will say that's good marketing. I say that's putting too much pressure on an untested player.
Or have we forgotten the case of the equally desperate Houston Texans in 2002.
Houston drafted David Carr out of Fresno State, marketed him as the face of their franchise and installed him as their starter because he had the physical tools, mental makeup and poise to do the job.
The poor guy got so beat up physically and so messed up mentally, that I truly believe it prevented him from becoming the QB he might have become.
Carr got sacked more times than any QB in NFL history as a rookie and things didn't get much better in the ensuing four years.
The shell-shocked Carr was released after the 2006 season, had a brief stay in Carolina and recently signed on as a backup to Eli Manning in New York.
Hopefully, Atlanta will learn from Houston's mistake. But I doubt it. The Falcons are too busy turning pages.
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