Matt Ryan, the Atlanta Falcons first-round pick, will start at quarterback during the team’s first game of the season against Detroit.

Ryan completed 32 of 52 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns with one interception during three preseason games, beating out Chris Redman and Joey Harrington for the job.

While Ryan clearly has more upside than the other contenders and he has reportedly looked solid during the preseason, this decision will undoubtedly raise the question once again over whether or not rookies  should start at quarterback.

It’s worked in some cases. Peyton Manning started right out of the gate and, while he had his struggles as a rookie, he’s undoubtedly become one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the game. John Elway and Troy Aikman are two others that have overcome tough beginnings to establish Hall of Fame careers.

On the other hand, David Carr was immediately thrown to the wolves in Houston and his 21 fumble, 15 interception, 76 sack season in 2002 laid the groundwork for him becoming jittery and mediocre over the last six seasons. He’s been a big disappointment. Ryan Leaf won his first two games then came completely unraveled and never recovered.

Ryan likely has more mental capacity than Leaf did. And the likelihood is that he’ll fall somewhere in between the extreme examples. But I question the decision to start him right away for a couple reasons.

First, the Falcons aren’t going to be very good this season. They’re rebuilding an offensive line. Rookie Sam Baker has reportedly held his own against solid ends like Paul Spicer and Kyle Vanden Bosch, and left guard Justin Blalock has supposedly improved after a first season described by the Atlanta Journal Constitution as “so-so”.

Unknown Harvey Dahl appears to have taken the right guard spot from Kynan Forney and center Alex Stepanovich has been injured. Tyson Clabo, Terrance Pennington, Quinn Ojinnaka, Doug Datish, Ben Wilkersonn and Todd Weiner are among others hoping to play on a line that MUST protect Ryan from getting physically – and thus mentally – battered during his first season as a pro.

The second reason I question starting Ryan is that Redman established some rapport with members of the offense late last season. Laurent Robinson was solid the last few games and Roddy White played well, while the team scored 27 and 44 points in the last two games.

That’s not to say that Redman is the long-term answer – clearly that is not the case. But in recent years the trend has been more toward rookies sitting the bench, such as JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn both did last year.

Clearly the coaches know more about how Ryan has looked in practice – and how he will react mentally to a season that without question will have some ups and deep, deep downs. And new coach Mike Smith wants to start his tenure with his guy. For Ryan’s sake I hope he’s not jumping the gun.