Joe Flacco

PASSING                            RUSHING                 FANTASY

(+) Flacco has great weapons in the passing game (Boldin, Smith & Rice)

(+) 2nd year receiver Torrey Smith finally emerged as the team’s deep threat in his rookie season, something this offense was certainly lacking

(+) Flacco has a strong arm and is one of a handful of QB’s that can make an accurate NFL throw from sideline to sideline

(+) Flacco showed his abilities against rival Pittsburgh throwing for 524 yards and 4 TD in their 2 games  

(-) After three straight seasons of increasing performance Flacco seemed to hit a plateau 

(-) Ray Rice has become such a focal point that Flacco is asked to be a game manager

(-) Flacco had 7 games where he failed to throw for 200 yards and 3 others where he failed to reach 230 yards

(-) Anquan Boldin is not in his prime anymore and it is not clear who is the next player ready to step up

Flacco started out the 2009 season on fire.  He had seven straight games with TD passes, four of them with multiple TDs, and three 300-yard games during the stretch.  Unfortunately, the one thing that could stifle his run came next… the dreaded momentum-stopping bye week.  Over his final nine games, Flacco could muster up just two multiple-TD passing games and zero 300-yard games.  However, those final couple of 2+ TD passing games did come in the fantasy playoffs (Weeks 15 & 16), so all was not lost for the sophomore QB.  He improved in nearly every statistic he could from his rookie year to 2009, but his second-half tumble kept him from scratching fantasy starter status in the end.

~ Ranked 17^th in the league in QB fantasy points with 206.1 (basic scoring system)

~ Tied for 15^th in the league with 21 passing touchdowns

~ Ranked 13^th in the league with a 88.9 QB Rating

~ Ranked eleventh in the league with a 63.1% completion percentage

~ Ranked 17^th in the league with 225.8 passing yards per game

~ Ranked 15^th in the league with 315 completions

~ Ranked 15^th in the league with 499 attempts

~ Ranked 15^th in the league with 3,613 passing yards

~ Ranked 14^th in the league in yards/attempt (7.24)

~ Set career bests in completions (315), attempts (499), completion percentage (63.1%), yards (3,613), passing TDs (21), yards/attempt (7.2), yards/game (225.8), and QB Rating (88.9)

If nothing had changed in Baltimore during this past offseason, we’d be hard-pressed to tell you that Flacco was anything more than a low-end fantasy backup QB.  However, when “Eyebrows” Joe (some have taken to “Bazooka” Joe, but “Eyebrows” seems a little more original) got wind of the news that the Ravens had acquired the services of Anquan Boldin from Arizona, his stock instantly rose to the brink of fantasy starter status.  The Ravens are still a team that likes to control the clock with their running game and work off of their defensive capabilities, so don’t go overboard and throw him in with the Manning/Brees/Rodgers crowd just yet, but he’s definitely worth taking as a prominent backup to a weak fantasy starter (such as Favre, Kolb, Eli or McNabb) this year, and could end up higher in the rankings by season’s end than his past dictates.

~ The addition of both Anquan Boldin and Donte Stallworth give Flacco weapons he’s never had in the past

~ The Ravens Strength of Schedule against the pass is the toughest in the league

~ Ray Rice is an asset that the Ravens will not simply ignore

~ Despite Flacco’s strong arm, his accuracy is still in question

Flacco does not have a Twitter account.  The official Team Twitter account comes through here:  Ravens Player Tweets

Follow Pyro® on Twitter @pyroman1ac

Will the real Joe Flacco please stand up?

And this is real folks.

Flacco signed a rookie deal in July of '08 worth $11.9 million, of which $8.75 million was guaranteed, along with an additional $17.9 million available through performance incentives.  When considering Flacco in your draft, the contract situation could end up being a huge motivator.  He improved on his stellar rookie numbers in 2009, and with Boldin in the mix now, he could do so again in 2010:

2010 - $710,000

2011 - $1.035 million

2012 - $1.36 million

2013 - Free Agent

Marc Bulger was signed in the offseason to be the handcuff to Flacco, but the younger, more versatile Troy Smith should stay on your radar

• Offensive Line


• Offensive Scheme


• Major Off-Season Moves


• 2010 NFL Draft

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