If you're souring on Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, consider the alternatives

Last night I wrote about Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. I raved about his shockingly low failed completion percentage. To be fair, with all the bad decisions he made in 2015, it was easy to take Ryan for granted. But you can't, you just can't, because there aren't lots of quality alternatives.

Consider the upcoming draft and the quarterback prospects it will feature.

So acute is the chronic shortage of capable passers in the pass-happy NFL heading into this week's scouting combine in Indianapolis that analysts say at least three and possibly four quarterbacks could be taken in the first round in April. This despite the fact not one member of the current passer crop — not even the top-rated Carson Wentz of North Dakota State — is considered a sure-fire prospect capable of starting from Day 1.

The vast majority of Falcons fans understand the point I'm making here. Sure, Ryan had a lackluster 2015. And sure, he has some serious work to do. That said, a guy with Ryan's talent doesn't come along every day. I'm not comparing him to Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, because he's not that good. I'm just pointing out the sheer lunacy of blindly calling for his replacement.

If all goes according to plan, the Falcons can reasonably expect to get another 4-6 years of quality football from Matty Ice. Does he frustrate me? Sure. Do I throw things at the TV when he throws an ill-timed interception? You betcha. But am I looking forward to the day the Falcons start their search for his replacement? Absolutely not.

Your thoughts?

Arthur Blank: Matt Ryan can 'absolutely' take Falcons to Super Bowl

Quarterback Matt Ryan still has Falcons owner Arthur Blank in his corner.

With Ryan coming off his worst NFL season, Blank still believes he will be the quarterback to take the Falcons to the Super Bowl.

"Absolutely," Blank said, via ESPN.com. "No question about it. But it doesn't take one player to get there. It takes a lot of players around him and having a lot of talent around him. It's going to take a lot of players to do that; offensively, defensively, and special teams. And it's going to take coaches and the coaching staff that will help support that."

The Falcons were 8-8 in 2015, and Ryan wrapped up his eighth season with 16 interceptions and 21 touchdowns.

Blank said he made sure to talk to Ryan at the end of the year to go over what went wrong and right throughout the season.

"Every season, I usually will have a dinner or a couple hours alone with the quarterback, always with the knowledge of the coach. And I spent some time with Matt. I think it went well. As Matt would say, 'Last year was probably the most difficult for me. I didn't have the kind of consistency, performance that I would like. Our offense didn't. We were sixth in the league in moving the ball [passing]. We were, unfortunately, 21st in scoring, and that's not the right kind of ratio that you want,'" Blank said.

Ryan has much to prove for Blank's hopes to become reality. He is 1-4 in playoff games and hasn't taken the Falcons to the postseason for the past three years.

"Obviously, we have a great faith in Matt Ryan," Blank said. "He's only 30 years old. He'll be our quarterback for many years to come. As Rich Gannon said to me the other morning — and Gannon was a very competitive player in the league for many, many years and a high-level quarterback — he said, 'You've got a quarterback that about 20 other teams would love to have.' And I think I would agree with him on that."