OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Matt Ryan plays his first regular-season game in Baltimore on Sunday, when the Atlanta Falcons play at the Ravens. But Ryan would've played all his home games at M&T Bank Stadium if the Ravens had followed a different course of action six years ago.
Before the 2008 draft, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti challenged his decision makers to take Ryan.
"I told those guys that if they had Matt Ryan listed as the best quarterback in the draft, then I'm willing to give up the whole damn draft for him," Bisciotti said in the book, Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. "I told them there is nothing worse for an owner or for them to be managing a business without a franchise quarterback. I said, ‘I don't care what we have to pay for him to trade up. We're getting Matt Ryan.'"
The Ravens, who were drafting No. 8 in 2008, knew they would have to jump six spots to No. 2 (and ahead of the Falcons) to get Ryan. Team officials called the St. Louis Rams, who had the second overall pick, and they wanted two first-round picks (2008 and 2009) along with the Ravens' picks in the second and third rounds.
The Ravens' front office convinced Bisciotti the smarter play was to trade back, acquire more picks, and take Flacco. The Ravens had Ryan rated as the No. 3 player in the entire draft and Flacco at No. 15. There wasn't much separation between the quarterbacks in the Ravens' opinion.
Ryan said Wednesday that he doesn't think of how his career would be different if the Ravens had drafted him.
"You never know how a draft is going to turn out," Ryan said. "I feel fortunate to be here in Atlanta. I couldn't have asked to end up in a better place."
If the Ravens would've drafted Ryan, the Falcons could've traded back to take Flacco. What would've happened if Flacco played for the Falcons instead of the Ravens?
"The trickle effect ... who knows where I would be?," Flacco said. "Are you kidding me? I could be out of the league. You just never know. I could create all sort of crazy scenarios. At the end of the day, I'd like to think I would've accomplished a lot of things I have accomplished anyway. But I don't like to think of that. I'm a Raven. That's the end of it."
Perhaps the more timely question now is this: Which quarterback would you take now?
Flacco has the stronger arm and is more athletic. Ryan is a better decision-maker and is better at directing the offense.
Ryan has been the more consistent passer in the regular season. He's nearly a lock to throw for 4,000 yards and close to 30 touchdowns.
Flacco is the more decorated quarterback in the postseason. He is 9-4 in the playoffs with a Super Bowl ring and three AFC Championship Game appearances. Ryan is 1-4 in the postseason.
It's true that Flacco has been helped by a defense that included two future Hall of Fame players in Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. But you could argue that Ryan has benefited from having better targets in the passing game.
While much of the analysis has been contrasting Flacco and Ryan, Falcons coach Mike Smith believes they are very much alike.
"We did a lot of work on both of these guys and they are very similar in a lot of ways – the height, weight, speed, measurables," Smith said. "Joe has done a great job leading the Baltimore Raven team and Matt has done a great job of leading our team. They are both elite quarterbacks, they’ve been playing at an elite level, in my opinion, for quite some time – both of them.”
Flacco agrees there is a connection with Ryan, and he doesn't mind the comparisons. To Flacco, the talk means they're both relevant and playing meaningful games.
"It's a shame that we're in different conferences and we don't get to play each other as we'd probably like to," Flacco said. "It'd be pretty fun to play each other more often."