Tom E. Curran • E-mail

I'll give you one Irishman who’ll be lying low this St. Patrick's Day. Matt Ryan, quarterback, Boston College.

See, March 18 is BC's Pro Day and Ryan – who passed on passing the football at the Combine – has put his chips all in on Tuesday.

So far, Ryan has maintained his lead as the top quarterback prospect in this draft without doing much more since the end of the season than flap his gums (and he’s done a nice job of that, I’ll add). Meanwhile, Louisville’s Brian Brohm, Michigan’s Chad Henne and Delaware’s Joe Flacco (one of my top 18 names in the draft) have jockeyed for the spot behind him with Flacco seeming to emerge as No. 2.

Mike Mayock, who does a terrific job breaking down the prospects on the NFL Network, has Ryan going first overall to Miami. Mayock's not on an island with that opinion.

Ryan, who's represented by agent to the star QBs Tom Condon, has been steadfast in defending his decision to throw only at his Pro Day.

"I want to portray to the teams that are going to be looking at my skills in an accurate representation of what it would be like in a game situation, and I want to throw to the guys that I know and give the teams a chance to look at what I'm capable of doing."

Ryan’s also maintained – rightly – that his game tape at BC will demonstrate how well he plays the position, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of Tuesday’s workout.

With Miami, Atlanta, Kansas City, Baltimore, Carolina, Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota and Tampa Bay all being teams that could use a quarterback immediately or in the near future, Ryan’s performance is going to make some dominoes wobble.

Will he have the kind of lights-out performance that ensures he doesn’t last past the Falcons with the third pick? Or will those teams be more inclined to build on their defensive or offensive lines with guys like Chris Long, Sedrick Ellis, Glenn Dorsey, Jake Long or Ryan Clady after watching Ryan’s workout?

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If Ryan does stay on the board past No. 3, Kansas City would then be in a position to decide whether its seen enough from Brodie Croyle in his two seasons with the Chiefs to pass on Ryan. Then the Ravens – with an old and banged-up Steve McNair, a borderline bust in Kyle Boller and the still-raw 2006 Heisman winner Troy Smith on the depth chart – would be the next team to have to make a tough call on Ryan.

And you have to assume that, if Ryan does get past Atlanta, teams like Minnesota, Detroit and the Bears would start trying to jump ahead in the round to get a crack at Ryan.

In addition to Ryan’s workout at BC on Tuesday, Florida, Georgia, Penn State and Virginia are holding their Pro Days as well. Looks like a lot of people will be lying low this St. Paddy’s Day.

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