Falcons believe Matt Ryan can master Arthur Smith’s offense

In a press conference today, Falcons’ quarterback coach spoke on Matt Ryan and the offensive scheme Arthur Smith brings to Atlanta. Via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “He’s entering a scheme that he’s familiar with, but there are some new nuances to it. We want to make sure that he can master some of the new nuances of this offense, but just continue to play at the high level that he’s been playing (at).”

Charles London comes from the Bears, where he was a running backs coach, but he considers the new position a “good challenge.” The new staff has the utmost confidence in Ryan as London said, “We studied every drop-back pass, ever play-action pass, everything that Matt did this past year. We thought as a staff that he was still performing at a high level. He could still do everything that was needed to do to run this offense. I look forward to working with him. He has a very unique skill-set.”

Ryan is an extremely cerebral player. The idea he can’t learn and master a new offense in a short time person is nonsense. In an offense with similar nuances as Kyle Shanahan’s, Ryan won’t take as long to get used to the new scheme. Aaron Rodgers is the best case for this scenario.

Rodgers was considered wash by many around the NFL, who would love to haul back those takes, after Mike McCarthy was fired. Matt LaFleur, who runs a similar offense as Shanahan and Smith, was brought in with a quarterback-friendly system, and Rodgers returned to the elite conversation. The first year, Rodgers performed averagely, for himself — most quarterbacks career years. The second-year within LaFleur’s system resulted in one of the greatest seasons by a quarterback we’ve ever seen.

It is entirely possible Ryan returns to the level he once reached back in 2016. But similarly to the rough transition with Shanahan in 2015, this season will take some figuring out as Smith feels out Matt’s preferences and tendencies and vice versa. Falcons fans should expect a more efficient offense, resulting in a tick down in Ryan’s statistics. The important thing is to establish a balanced offense, and there are not many better suited to manage Smith’s offense than Ryan is in this stage of his career — the staff seems to think so too.