NFL QBs to complete 5,000 passes: Falcons' Matt Ryan closing in on rare achievement

If Matt Ryan were to throw 25 more completions, he would join an elite club of six other quarterbacks who have recorded at least 5000 completed passes. That will be an amazing achievement for a quarterback who often gets overlooked when talking about the very best in the NFL. But Matt Ryan's statistics deserve serious recognition when you consider the level of the other quarterbacks on this list.

Who will Matt Ryan join on completing 5000 career completions?

#1 Drew Brees

Tom Brady may have recently overtaken him in passing yards, but in terms of completions Drew Brees remains the king. He has a total of 7142 completions out of a total of 10551 attempts. He accumulated that total with two teams: the San Diego Chargers and the New Orleans Saints.

#2 Tom Brady

Tom Brady has more attempts than Drew Brees at 10782 but fewer completions at 6897. He is second on the list and has accumulated the total over the course of career with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

#3 Brett Favre

Brett Favre was the leader in this category when he retired with 6300 completions in a total of 10169 attempts. His record tallied across four franchises: the Atlanta Falcons (with whom Matt Ryan is hoping to become the newest inductee into this exclusive group), the Green Bay Packers, the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings.

#4 Peyton Manning

Next up on the list is the recently minted Hall-of-Famer, who had 6125 completions in 9380 attempts. He accumulated these completed passes over his career with the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos.

#5 Philip Rivers

Recently retired Philip Rivers also broached the 5000 mark with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts. In 8134 attempts, he had 5277 completed passes.

#6 Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger is the most recent player to enter this list and Matt Ryan is hoping to supplant him. Tellingly, his career has spanned a single franchise unlike the others on this list: the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has a total of 5159 completions in 8008 attempts.

Matt Ryan is currently on 4975 passes completed in 7602 attempts. He began firing on all cylinders right on his debut and he never let up.

Those are seriously impressive numbers and Matt Ryan deserves to be taken more seriously than a lot of casual NFL fans do. He has proven himself to be worthy of that stature.