Mike Mayock Discusses Matt Ryan, Compares Him to JaMarcus Russell

Mike Mayock hearts Matt Ryan. The NFL Network's draft analyst has the Boston College quarterback listed as one of the best players available in April's draft. Mayock even thinks Ryan reminds him of Ben Roethlisberger. (Sounds like a stretch, but I'm willing to give Mayock the benefit of the doubt since, you know, he's pretty good at what he does.)

After watching countless hours of game film on Ryan, Mayock likes everything he sees except the number of interceptions Ryan threw last season. But there's a good reason for that:

"My conclusion is that his wide receivers at Boston College didn't always athletically match up against cornerbacks from good teams, like Virginia Tech and Clemson, and he ended up having to force balls, which contributed to the high interception numbers..."

The BC wideouts must be jacked about that scouting report. When asked to compare last year's top quarterback, JaMarcus Russell (Mayock really loved Russell's physical skills), to Ryan he offered this:

"I took some heat about the comments I made about JaMarcus Russell last year, but I stand by them, as I felt he had the most exciting skill set out of any quarterback coming out of college football that I've seen in my life - he's a big kid with a big arm, with incredible touch and is accurate with the football," said Mayock. "But I also questioned how important the game of football is to him, which I think is an important question when you give someone $30 million guaranteed.

"I think with Matt Ryan, you have a skill set that is way above average but doesn't measure up to JaMarcus. No one does. But I think he completely overwhelms him off the field."

Mayock has a pretty good track record when it comes to judging how successful college players will be at the next level. No one will ever mistake Ryan for Russell, but whichever team takes him will settle for an above-average NFL career.