Goin' to the Matt

 They got him for a song, which might tell you something. And, no, not that Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard is a slick horse trader, though he probably is or at least can be on occasion.

On this occasion, he pried Matt Ryan away from the Atlanta Falcons for a third-round draft pick. Presumably a couple of boxtops were also involved, but perhaps that's giving the Falcons more credit than they deserve.

In any event, here's what the Colts got for that draft pick: An about-to-turn-37-year-old quarterback who's a four-time Pro Bowler and who's thrown 367 touchdown passes and almost 60,000 yards in his career. And who took the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016, when he threw 38 touchdowns and just shy of 5,000 yards, completed 69.9 percent of his passes and was the league MVP.

It's been a slow decline since, but Ryan still threw 20 touchdown passes last season and completed 67.1 percent of his passes. Those are the highlights of a season that was almost identical to that of Carson Wentz, whom the Colts could not get rid of fast enough.

Still, all objective analysis says he's better than Wentz -- a key factor in the Colts list of  Ryan's plusses which apparently reads like this:

1. He's better than Carson Wentz.

2. He's better than Carson Wentz.

3. He's better than ... oh, you know.

I'm being facetious here, of course, and doubtless Ryan will be better than Wentz -- especially as a leader in the locker room, which Wentz apparently was not. But a good deal of Ryan's subpar-for-him season last year was because he was without elite go-to receiver Calvin Ridley for much of the year after Ridley left the team for mental health reasons.

In Indianapolis, he will have no Calvin Ridley. That's because the Colts are fresh out of elite wide receivers.

This is the sticking point here, because a quarterback is only as good as his receivers -- even a quarterback with Ryan's pedigree. It means the Colts have only two-thirds of their offensive puzzle in place; they've got an elite running back (Jonathan Taylor) and Better Than Carson Wentz, but they still need a standout wideout. Ryan's effectiveness may ultimately hinge on whether or not the Colts can acquire or draft one.

In the meantime, cautious optimism seems the way to go here. As always with the Horsies.