{"id":2752,"date":"2025-06-21T15:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T15:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/2752\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T15:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T15:58:09","slug":"what-if-the-chiefs-had-drafted-matt-ryan-instead-of-glenn-dorsey-in-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/2752\/","title":{"rendered":"What if the Chiefs had drafted Matt Ryan instead of Glenn Dorsey in 2008?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s still jarring to see the Chiefs as a sterling NFL franchise. Long after Hank Stram urged his team to matriculate the ball down the field<\/a> and Len Dawson smoked a butt on the sidelines<\/a> (during the first Super Bowl!), the franchise was inept.<\/p>\n

Digging into the depleted funds of my memory bank, I find a solid decade of Marty Schottenheimer playoff bungling, drafting Todd Blackledge in 1983 over Dan Marino and Jim Kelly; the whole Scott Pioli disaster<\/a>, more proof that Bill Belichick\u2019s coaching\/management tree is a sad, wilted fern. The off-the-field tragedies \u2014 Jim Tyrer<\/a>, Derrick Thomas<\/a>, Jovan Belcher<\/a> \u2014 remind us that the heroes in this game are human.<\/p>\n

How quickly Patrick Mahomes obliterated that past. Five Super Bowl appearances and three wins in eight seasons. All before he turned 30. And he\u2019s so utterly likable: a real \u201cno, ma\u2019am, yes, sir\u201d type and a family man. (My mother-in-law, who lives in the K.C. suburbs, loves the dude.) Mahomes could set Arrowhead on fire, and he would still be held in the same esteem as burnt ends and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.<\/p>\n

Why? Let\u2019s look at some numbers, courtesy of a 2019 Ringer article<\/a> on the Chiefs\u2019 seemingly endless playoffs kicking woes by Rany Jazayerli.<\/p>\n

Before January 2019, Mahomes\u2019 playoff debut, the Chiefs were 4-16 in the postseason over 48 seasons; from 1972 to 1985, they didn\u2019t make the playoffs. The Chiefs\u2019 AFL dominance\u2014plus Lamar Hunt\u2019s role in shaping modern-day football<\/a>\u2014masked a lot of pain. If Mahomes didn\u2019t arrive, today\u2019s Chiefs might be a less forlorn version of the Cleveland Browns: a once-proud franchise whose fans must take shelter in an increasingly dusty history.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Chiefs were fortunate to draft Mahomes 10th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. But another reason behind the move has faded from memory.<\/p>\n

In 2008, the Chiefs, coming off a 4-12 season, could have taken a quarterback in the fifth spot. (Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, not exactly Earl Morrall and Bob Griese, started for a team that put up a whopping 14.1 points a game<\/a>.) Boston College\u2019s Matt Ryan would have been ideal. But the Falcons needed a QB. Michael Vick was suspended indefinitely<\/a> by the NFL for dogfighting in August 2007. Atlanta grabbed Ryan, who enjoyed a long, successful career. The Chiefs picked defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey from LSU, who did not.<\/p>\n

(A Super Bowl-winning quarterback was taken in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft: Joe Flacco, who will probably play with every team by the time Travis Kelce gets another questionable haircut<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s never a wise idea for sports fans to go all George Bailey on Christmas Eve<\/a>, but let\u2019s take that plunge. Suppose Michael Vick decided to take up stamp collecting and not a pastime that made him the most hated man in America for, like, 18 months, and the Chiefs drafted Matt Ryan. Would Kansas City become a dynasty that attracted pop megastars<\/a> and The Fonz<\/a> to their home games?<\/p>\n

Well, thanks to the good folks at Strat-O-Matic<\/a>, the market leaders in sports simulation, we can find out. What if the Chiefs had drafted Matty Ice?<\/p>\n

Matt Ryan Career Statistics<\/b>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\nYear<\/td>\nAtt\/Cmp<\/td>\nYards<\/td>\nTD<\/td>\nINT<\/td>\nRate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2008<\/td>\n332\/523
63.5%<\/td>\n4230<\/td>\n28
5.4%<\/td>\n18
3.4%<\/td>\n92.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2009<\/td>\n312\/535
58.3%<\/td>\n3791<\/td>\n25
4.7%<\/td>\n15
2.8%<\/td>\n84.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2010<\/td>\n258\/420
61.4%<\/td>\n3058<\/td>\n24
5.7%<\/td>\n4
1%<\/td>\n98.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2011<\/td>\n278\/473
58.8%<\/td>\n3330<\/td>\n22
4.7%<\/td>\n16
3.4%<\/td>\n81.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2012<\/td>\n273\/422
64.7%<\/td>\n3469<\/td>\n26
6.2%<\/td>\n6
1.4%<\/td>\n104.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2013<\/td>\n360\/536
67.2%<\/td>\n4135<\/td>\n26
4.9%<\/td>\n12
2.2%<\/td>\n97<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2014<\/td>\n306\/483
63.4%<\/td>\n3250<\/td>\n20
4.1%<\/td>\n10
2.1%<\/td>\n88.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2015<\/td>\n400\/592
67.6%<\/td>\n4504<\/td>\n26
4.4%<\/td>\n10
1.7%<\/td>\n97.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2016<\/td>\n363\/547
66.4%<\/td>\n3964<\/td>\n29
5.3%<\/td>\n9
1.6%<\/td>\n98.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2017<\/td>\n371\/574
64.6%<\/td>\n4223<\/td>\n32
5.6%<\/td>\n15
2.6%<\/td>\n94.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2018<\/td>\n411\/596
69%<\/td>\n5156<\/td>\n42
7%<\/td>\n16
2.7%<\/td>\n107.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2019<\/td>\n402\/644
62.4%<\/td>\n4694<\/td>\n33
5.1%<\/td>\n8
1.2%<\/td>\n96.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Kansas City Year-By-Year with Ryan as the QB<\/p>\n

This is a stellar career, complete with three AFC Championship appearances and two Super Bowl losses. It\u2019s not Mahomes Magic, but damn good. Let\u2019s put it this way: Matt Ryan is not paying for a barbecue platter in the KC metro area while he draws a breath.<\/p>\n

As for Mahomes, he ends up with the Houston Texans, where he\u2019s still playing. How does this Dad bod-sporting, sidearm-slinging wizard fare without Kelce, Andy Reid, and the red-clad throngs at Arrowhead? Do Texans fans get the unbeatable feeling of Mahomes running a two-minute drive?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see!<\/p>\n

Houston Year-By-Year (Mahomes QB)<\/p>\n

In this alternate reality, Mahomes did not make the playoffs until 2023, and he\u2019s only gotten as far as the Divisional Round. But, hey, sometimes it takes a while for an elite quarterback to win the Super Bowl. So many do not.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s important is if a quarterback can make a team competitive. Matt Ryan did that in Atlanta. His first season, he took them to the playoffs. He led the Falcons to a Super Bowl, something Vick never did. Look at Randall Cunningham in Philadelphia or Kelly in Buffalo or a pre-Super Bowl winning John Elway in Denver. You had a chance when those guys played. Rooting for a team with a lousy quarterback \u2014 and I write this as someone who has seen Tommy DeVito throw a football \u2014 is like walking into a gunfight with a water balloon.<\/p>\n

I bet how Texans fans feel about C.J. Stroud now, they would feel about Patrick Mahomes. Every Sunday, they would get the gift of hope\u2014 the difference between enjoyment and torture. Longtime Chiefs fans know this all too well. Are they obnoxious? No. It\u2019s an ongoing celebration. They remember what it was like before. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s still jarring to see the Chiefs as a sterling NFL franchise. Long after Hank Stram urged his…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[3008,3001,3707,3702,204,3706,3701,555,1412,3705,3709,3710,3703,1232,3708,1539,3009,3704,62,448,67,132,68,640],"class_list":{"0":"post-2752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-arrowhead","9":"tag-chiefs","10":"tag-dorsey","11":"tag-drafted","12":"tag-front-page","13":"tag-glenn","14":"tag-had","15":"tag-if","16":"tag-in","17":"tag-instead","18":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs-draft","19":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs-history","20":"tag-matt","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-nfl-news","23":"tag-of","24":"tag-pride","25":"tag-ryan","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-the","28":"tag-united-states","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-what"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114722183765994122","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}