By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

When Atlanta drafted Michael Vick with the number pick in 2001, most Falcons fans were convinced they had their franchise quarterback. And after multiple Pro Bowls and a playoff win at Lambeau Field, they had to feel like they were set at quarterback for the foreseeable future.

The sentiment was correct, it just wasn’t the player they thought it would be.

Matt Ryan has accomplished quite a bit since entering the NFL in 2008 and is well deserving of all the accolades and money that has been thrown his way.

Over the course of his career the most important thing he has achieved, or at least it should be in the mind of Falcons’ fans, is that he has kept the franchise from becoming the Miami Dolphins.

Since Dan Marino retired almost twenty years ago, the Dolphins have been mired in mediocrity, like quicksand; the more they struggle to get out, the deeper they get sucked in.

There are a few different reasons why that’s happened, but the main one is their lack of a franchise quarterback. Miami has had so many different quarterbacks since Marino I’m starting to believe they’re modeling their franchise after the Cleveland Browns.

The point is, with what happened to Vick and the dogfighting, Atlanta didn’t have a viable contingency plan in place for unexpectedly losing- up to that point- the best quarterback in franchise history.

(If you remember, Atlanta entered the 2007 season- or as I refer to it, the “season that explains why Bobby Petrino isn’t allowed in the state of Georgia”- with Joey Harrington at quarterback.)

It’s difficult enough to find one top tier quarterback in the draft, but to do it again seven years later is almost impossible.

Yet that was what Atlanta was tasked with doing. Had they missed on Ryan it could have set the franchise back 4-5 years; something that would’ve been almost unthinkable 12 months prior.

This is why I think that selection is the most important football decision the franchise has ever made and while you can argue there have been better players, I don’t think there’s been a more vital one than Ryan.

The Falcons were about to dive head first into six inches of water but the addition of Ryan changed their trajectory.

I realize with his new 5 year/$150 million contract to go along with the amount of talent on Atlanta’s roster, there is a lot of pressure for Ryan to bring home a Lombardi Trophy to the “Dirty South”; and there should be.

I just don’t think whatever winds up happening over his remaining years that it should diminish what he has meant to the Falcons organization and the city of Atlanta.

All I’m saying is that 10 years ago Atlanta was coming off the most difficult 12 months in their franchise’s history. Vick, Petrino, 4-12 season; they could have easily bottomed out. But they didn’t and a big reason is because of Matt Ryan.

Like I said, Atlanta always planned to go through with a franchise changing quarterback. The only difference is the name on the back jersey.

In a weird way, they can thank Michael Vick for that.