I was blown away when I heard Jim Harbaugh, Ravens HC, state of Joe Flacco:
“Statistically, he’s one of the best third-year quarterbacks in history of football,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think we should ever lose sight of the fact that this guy is as good a third-year quarterback as has played in the history of this game so far. And I believe in him. He’s my quarterback, he’s our quarterback, he’s going to be our quarterback, and we’re going to win championships with this guy.”
Now Derrick Mason is saying that teams are scared of Flacco because of how good he is.
Joe Flacco has the height and build that make him look like a prototypical QB. And this season it was politically correct to think Joe Flacco is a solid, dependable and possibly a great QB.
I disagree wholeheartedly and it’s my prerogative to feel that way until Flacco proves me wrong. He has a big arm, he has a big body, he throws a good deep ball. But he chokes in big games, he is not a leader that proves it on the field and his passing under pressure is miserable. But I’m not the only one who sees his limitations:
Otherwise, though they would never say different, why would Flacco’s GM/Owner/Coach make such unprecedented moves before the 2010 season? As we all know, the Ravens build through the draft, they groom their own. But they realized the severe limitations of their QB, so they knew they had to help him. So this season, they added Anquan Boldin, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Dontae' Stallworth. Despite already having a great former Pro-Bowl possession receiver in Mason (great hands and routes) a former Pro-Bowl TE in Heap plus Pro-Bowler Ray Rice out of the backfield.
If they had a QB they could trust to win big games, they wouldn't have needed to add all these weapons. Their run game was huge in 2009 so they certainly didn't need to add WRs to help the run game. They had Mason already, another former Pro Bowler, and could have added one other WR if they saw the opportunity. But they didn't. They added three. This was a team that, in 2010, brought in 2 Pro-Bowl receivers to add to the 1 Pro-Bowler they already had. Does this sound like a team that trusts they have an all-star QB? No. This team, when going 3 wide, felt they needed to have 3 Pro-Bowl WRs starting together at the same time.
Forget about the Miami Heat or the NY Knicks stacking talent, that’s what the Ravens tried to do with their WR position in 2010.
Did Belichick, when Brady was his young QB, go out in FA and bring in a ton of Pro Bowl WRs? No, Brady won 3 SBs w/ Troy Brown, David Patten and Deion Branch.
When Big Ben was a young QB w/ the Steelers, did Cowher go out in FA and buy a bunch of Pro Bowl WRs? No, Ben won Super Bowls w/ Hines Ward and Randle El, and then another w/ an older Hines Ward and a young, homegrown Santonio Holmes. None of these guys were FAs, they were drafted by the Steelers.
In fact, let’s look at all the younger QBs of the last few years:
Matt Ryan, Carson Palmer, Jay Cutler, Eli Manning, Alex Smith, Philip Rivers
When these guys were budding in the league, struggling at times, did any of the teams they played on, even the ones who didn’t have great run games and great defenses, bring in multiple proven and veteran Pro-Bowl WRs for their QB to use? Absolutely not. So why would the Ravens feel they needed to add such talent if they love their QB so much, and already had a great run game and defense? You would think Flacco would be able to win with Pro Bowl options Mason and TE Todd Heap, as well as leading pass receiver and Pro Bowler Ray Rice out of the backfield catching passes.
I will tell you why they knew he couldn’t get it done: It’s because the Ravens front office is one of the best in the NFL and they knew Flacco and his limitations. They also knew how he struggled on the road and late in the season.
On the road from December onward, Flacco has a QB rating of just 68.8, has thrown 12 TDs and 12 Ints in 13 total games, and is throwing for just 5.7 ypa in his 3 year career.
I said early in the season last year that Flacco was bound to do better in 2010, because he couldn’t do much worse than he did in years 1 and 2. And he did produce better statistically overall. But now we have his head coach claiming there is no better 3rd year QB in NFL history?
First let’s just look at just year 3, then we’ll look at years 1-3 as a package. Let’s compare Flacco to all 3rd year QBs in NFL history to see if Harbaugh is right or wrong that he is the best all time:
...Long article w/ stat analysis, click for more:
https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/Joe_Flacco_Analysis.html
“Statistically, he’s one of the best third-year quarterbacks in history of football,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think we should ever lose sight of the fact that this guy is as good a third-year quarterback as has played in the history of this game so far. And I believe in him. He’s my quarterback, he’s our quarterback, he’s going to be our quarterback, and we’re going to win championships with this guy.”
Now Derrick Mason is saying that teams are scared of Flacco because of how good he is.
Joe Flacco has the height and build that make him look like a prototypical QB. And this season it was politically correct to think Joe Flacco is a solid, dependable and possibly a great QB.
I disagree wholeheartedly and it’s my prerogative to feel that way until Flacco proves me wrong. He has a big arm, he has a big body, he throws a good deep ball. But he chokes in big games, he is not a leader that proves it on the field and his passing under pressure is miserable. But I’m not the only one who sees his limitations:
Otherwise, though they would never say different, why would Flacco’s GM/Owner/Coach make such unprecedented moves before the 2010 season? As we all know, the Ravens build through the draft, they groom their own. But they realized the severe limitations of their QB, so they knew they had to help him. So this season, they added Anquan Boldin, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Dontae' Stallworth. Despite already having a great former Pro-Bowl possession receiver in Mason (great hands and routes) a former Pro-Bowl TE in Heap plus Pro-Bowler Ray Rice out of the backfield.
If they had a QB they could trust to win big games, they wouldn't have needed to add all these weapons. Their run game was huge in 2009 so they certainly didn't need to add WRs to help the run game. They had Mason already, another former Pro Bowler, and could have added one other WR if they saw the opportunity. But they didn't. They added three. This was a team that, in 2010, brought in 2 Pro-Bowl receivers to add to the 1 Pro-Bowler they already had. Does this sound like a team that trusts they have an all-star QB? No. This team, when going 3 wide, felt they needed to have 3 Pro-Bowl WRs starting together at the same time.
Forget about the Miami Heat or the NY Knicks stacking talent, that’s what the Ravens tried to do with their WR position in 2010.
Did Belichick, when Brady was his young QB, go out in FA and bring in a ton of Pro Bowl WRs? No, Brady won 3 SBs w/ Troy Brown, David Patten and Deion Branch.
When Big Ben was a young QB w/ the Steelers, did Cowher go out in FA and buy a bunch of Pro Bowl WRs? No, Ben won Super Bowls w/ Hines Ward and Randle El, and then another w/ an older Hines Ward and a young, homegrown Santonio Holmes. None of these guys were FAs, they were drafted by the Steelers.
In fact, let’s look at all the younger QBs of the last few years:
Matt Ryan, Carson Palmer, Jay Cutler, Eli Manning, Alex Smith, Philip Rivers
When these guys were budding in the league, struggling at times, did any of the teams they played on, even the ones who didn’t have great run games and great defenses, bring in multiple proven and veteran Pro-Bowl WRs for their QB to use? Absolutely not. So why would the Ravens feel they needed to add such talent if they love their QB so much, and already had a great run game and defense? You would think Flacco would be able to win with Pro Bowl options Mason and TE Todd Heap, as well as leading pass receiver and Pro Bowler Ray Rice out of the backfield catching passes.
I will tell you why they knew he couldn’t get it done: It’s because the Ravens front office is one of the best in the NFL and they knew Flacco and his limitations. They also knew how he struggled on the road and late in the season.
On the road from December onward, Flacco has a QB rating of just 68.8, has thrown 12 TDs and 12 Ints in 13 total games, and is throwing for just 5.7 ypa in his 3 year career.
I said early in the season last year that Flacco was bound to do better in 2010, because he couldn’t do much worse than he did in years 1 and 2. And he did produce better statistically overall. But now we have his head coach claiming there is no better 3rd year QB in NFL history?
First let’s just look at just year 3, then we’ll look at years 1-3 as a package. Let’s compare Flacco to all 3rd year QBs in NFL history to see if Harbaugh is right or wrong that he is the best all time:
...Long article w/ stat analysis, click for more:
https://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/Joe_Flacco_Analysis.html