Already impressed with Ryan, NFL personnel flock to Boston

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BOSTON -- Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards says Matt Ryan has qualities you can't necessarily see at a pro workout like the one Ryan went through Tuesday at Boston College.

Herm Edwards gets to know Matt Ryan before his much-anticipated outing. (AP)

"The thing this guy has is his ability to win, and that's the thing you look at with a quarterback," Edwards said after he and 41 other representatives from 22 NFL teams watched Ryan throw under the bubble that covers Alumni Stadium. "Some guys have it and some guys don't.

"He's very level-headed. What he can do when you watch him play is he believes if he has the ball at the end of a game he's got a chance to win."

The Chiefs have the No. 5 overall pick in the upcoming draft. Obviously, Edwards, who says all teams are "playing poker" at this time of year, wouldn't tip his hand on Kansas City's plans, but he and president/general manager Carl Peterson and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey were on hand to see Ryan and others work out.

"He's the main reason (all the NFL types) are here," Edwards said.

Ryan, the ACC Player of the Year and winner of the Unitas Golden Arm Award, chose not to go to the Senior Bowl or to throw at the NFL combine, where he went through all the other tests and met with the clubs, including Edwards and the Chiefs. Instead, he waited to throw on the surface he has thrown thousands of passes on, and to receivers he knew -- a handful of his former BC teammates who were also showing their wares.

"I made those decisions and I've stood by them," Ryan said. "I've stood by the decision I've made throughout this entire process."

He threw 52 passes of all types, completing 48, with three drops and only one miss. He wasn't perfect in terms of quality of throw, but the balls got there, some grabbed with nifty catches.

Edwards, who said Ryan has a lot of mannerisms like his former quarterback with the Jets, Chad Pennington, thought Ryan "pressed a little bit today" after basically sitting around for 4-5 hours while other players tested in other areas. Edwards met with Ryan before the quarterback threw and told him to relax.

When it was over, Edwards, who said tapes tell him more than workout days like this one, said, "It's in shorts, there's no rush, he knows where he's throwing the ball," and added Ryan has "a good-enough arm, he's smart enough and in my opinion he has good poise in games.

"I've watched him in games where he's behind ... he has all the intangibles for a quarterback to play in our league."

Ryan "thought it went well," adding, "I showed I could throw every pass you need to throw in the NFL and I wanted to show what I could do."