Week 4 QB projections   •  BAL Stats

QB Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

HT: 6-6, WT: 236, Born: 1-16-1985, College: Delaware, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 18

2011 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of September 6th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: M Lewis (94), Joe Flacco (96), P Thomas (97),
Position: E Manning (83-QB13), S Bradford (90-QB14), Joe Flacco (96 - QB15), K Kolb (107-QB16), J Cutler (110-QB17)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

PPR Average draft position

Current as of September 6th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: T Gonzalez (103), C Spiller (104), Joe Flacco (105), M Floyd (106), J Knox (107)
Position: E Manning (89-QB13), S Bradford (91-QB14), Joe Flacco (105 - QB15), K Kolb (110-QB16), J Cutler (111-QB17)
Click here for a comparison of these players.

 Click here to go to the Joe Flacco spotlight, our staff's most detailed analysis.

Best Case

Joe Flacco is the unquestioned starter in Baltimore and he will build upon his solid foundation as the starting quarterback for the Ravens for the past three years. Anquan Boldin returns as his top receiver once again while Ray Rice joins him in the backfield and favorite short yardage receiver. The Ravens added two young targets in the 2011 NFL Draft, Torrey Smith and Tandon Doss. Smith should be able to use his elite speed to stretch opposing defenses and provide a viable target for Flacco's big arm. Doss was hand-picked by Flacco as a prospect with great hands and good route running ability. Those receivers along with two young tight ends could rejuvenate an older receiving corps that could not go deep last season.

Worst Case

The absence of veteran WR Derrick Mason and TE Todd Heap hurt more that most would expect. Rookies Smith and Doss are not ready for the league in their first year and Boldin faces double-teams every snap. Two young tight ends (Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta) are also not quite developed enough to provide help in the passing game.

Outlook

Flacco has added 10 pounds of muscle and gotten married in the offseason, two signs that he is maturing both on and off the field. Flacco knows that this is a year where he has to elevate his game, and now the Ravens have given him two new wide receivers to help stretch the defense this year. Flacco should be a solid and stable quarterback in Baltimore, starting all season once again and taking advantage of his new toys in the passing attack. While the inexperience at tight end and WR2 are an issue, Flacco has a solid ground game and offensive line to keep teams honest and Flacco upright in the pocket. Look for Flacco to finish all 16 contests and be at or near the Top 12 QBs when all is said and done this year.

Relevant Articles

Why he is overvalued

Sigmund Bloom - The Ravens did just add Lee Evans to stop the bleeding left by the cap cuts of Todd Heap and Derrick Mason, but Flacco will still endure an overall downgrade in the reliability of his weapons in the passing game. There will be at least one person that believes Flacco is going to break out in every draft this year, but I believe we have already seen what he is: a good, but not great fantasy QB who won't keep pace with the top options, but cost more than the sleepers who can equal his production. The Ravens have a left tackle who should be at right tackle, and no real right tackle right now. That's not a recipe for a career year from their QB.

Mike Brown - Every year for the past three, Flacco was going to light up the stat sheet with his huge arm and improved weapons in the passing game. But every year, the Ravens stick to the tried and true method of running the football constantly. In addition, Flacco hasn't really taken advantage much of the added weaponry around him, putting up mostly solid totals but without really busting loose. There are several players being drafted right around Flacco's level who offer significantly more upside. And if they don't pan out, you shouldn't have much trouble trading for a Flacco-type at midseason. Why not take a shot at a home run?

Ryan Hester - When the Ravens added wide receiver Torrey Smith in the draft, many thought it would be a nice addition for Joe Flacco's confidence coming off two straight seasons that ended in miserable Flacco performances against the division rival Steelers. The team dismissing safety blankets Derrick Mason and Todd Heap, however, has Flacco's arrow pointing sideways at best. Aside from the skill position losses, a well-kept secret in the league is that the "super-tough" Ravens have a somewhat weak offensive line. Having consecutive seasons end in the fashion Flacco's did (less than 100 yards in the first three quarters of last year's playoff defeat) can hurt the confidence of a player at the position where it is needed the most.

Chris Smith - I think Joe Flacco is a pretty solid NFL quarterback. The question I have at this point in time is will that translate into being a good fantasy option this season. The Ravens are going to pound the ball, play strong defense and probably that doesn't mean big things from Flacco and is upside is limited in my opinion. Look elsewhere for your starting quarterback in 2011.

Jeff Tefertiller - Why should fantasy owners spend an eighth round pick on a fantasy quarterback who has yet to crack the Top 10 in his three-year career? I do not know either. Making the pick even worse is the fact that Flacco is drafted before Sam Bradford and others who have much more upside. The Ravens lost Derrick Mason, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Todd Heap in free agency and only added Lee Evans to compete with Anquan Boldin and the youngsters for pass targets.

Matt Waldman - They lost Mason and added a Torrey Smith through the draft. Smith is a great physical talent, but he's raw. He also isn't going to earn the trust of Joe Flacco on precision routes that Mason ran so well I the intermediate passing game. Anquan Boldin doesn't run these routes, either. Ed Dickson is a little banged up and unproven. That leaves James Hardy, who shies away from contact and lacks the flexibility and hip/knee strength to run great routes that they need, and tight end James Pitta. I actually think Pitta might have the best hands of any receiver mentioned after Boldin and he's not a consistently threat down the seam. Come to think of it, they might be better with Ray Rice split outside and Ricky Williams as a receiver from the backfield. Sadly, I'm almost serious. I won't be coming near Joe Flacco this year.

Mark Wimer - Though the Ravens did go out and get Lee Evans, Flacco is down to just one wide receiver among the top four in his stable that he has worked with in the past (Anquan Boldin) and he's got two second-year tight ends who may (or may not) pan out during 2011. There's a lot of uncertainty among the WR/TE stable and I think that the Ravens offense may come out of the gates very slow this year (4-6 weeks before the unit "jells").

Latest News

Ravens | Joe Flacco had problems when under pressure (Fri Feb 10, 02:17 PM) - Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco threw two touchdowns and six interceptions when under pressure this offseason and completed 44.3 percent of his passes in the 140 attempts when he was pressure. He was also sacked 31 times in 177 drop backs when pressured.

Our View: Flacco is in the last year of his rookie contract and the Ravens will have a big decision to face in the near future. We haven't seen Flacco improve much as a passer, and he certainly is one of the league's worst when under pressure.
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Ravens | Will start on extension talks with Joe Flacco (Wed Feb 1, 02:39 PM) - Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said the team will begin working on a contract extension for QB Joe Flacco this offseason.

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Ravens | Want to sign Joe Flacco to new deal (Wed Feb 1, 09:45 AM) - Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti provided a timetable for negotiations with QB Joe Flacco on a long-term contract extension, saying he would like a deal to be done this year. 'I would anticipate an extension that starts in 2012,' Bisciotti said. 'Our goal is to get it done for 2012 for sure.' Flacco is heading into the final year of his rookie contract. However, it's not clear if Flacco's recent performance has affected Bisciotti's stated plans to start negotiations before the 2012 season. Several insiders acknowledged that it should at least give the organization something more to think about.

Our View: Some feel the Ravens may not be as high on Flacco as most automatically assume. They have added coaches, weapons to the passing game, and he still hasn't taken that giant leap forward like many had expected. We'll see if they sign him to a big money extension.
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2011 Schedule

2011 Game Summaries

Week 1 - This was without question the calmest Flacco has ever looked against Pittsburgh. The opening drive set the tone for the game as Ray Rice's 36-yard run was a sign of things to come. With Rice running downhill, Flacco was able to utilize play-action to keep Pittsburgh guessing. The TD pass to Anquan Boldin that capped the team's first drive was a thing of beauty. He saw single-high free safety Ryan Clark help out on Lee Evans, which left Boldin one-on-one with Pittsburgh's #2 cornerback Bryant McFadden. The coverage was quite good, but the ball was delivered perfectly, and the result was a 7-0 lead. He also showed great mobility (for him) and touch on the play-action pass to Ed Dickson that resulted in a touchdown early in the 3rd quarter. After faking the handoff, he rolled left, set his feet very quickly, and lofted a great touch pass to Dickson who laid out for it near the back of the endzone. Flacco looked to be the quarterback all of his supporters have been saying he can be (and some have been saying he already is) in this game. Against a great defense that typically had his number throughout his short career, he was efficient and extremely effective on multiple throws.

Week 2 - Flacco was surprisingly under heavy pressure from Tennessee all day. Tennessee recorded 3 sacks, but they also hurried him and forced him into bad throws all day long. He had 2 interceptions, but with the way he threw into coverage, he was fortunate not to have 4. Aside from a drive towards the end of the game, once Tennessee had a 23-10 lead, he really played poorly. His lone TD was a screen pass, and was really due to a great run after the catch by Rice. It almost seemed as if the Titans were in the Ravens playbook. Not only was their pressure, but the Titan cornerbacks and safeties were all over the receivers, jumping routes, breaking up balls, and giving Flacco no chance at completing passes. On one INT, Verner completely jumped the route that Evans was running, as if he knew Evans wasn't going to burn him deep. Flacco also threw right into double coverage in the endzone, and Michael Griffin for some reason batted down the pass, which was right in his hands. It was first down, and wasn't a great decision by Griffin, but saved Flacco at that point. Flacco still doesn't have a great downfield threat. Evans is ok, but seems hurt or slow (or both), and the offense is just not a top flight offense.

Week 3 - The one thing the Ravens and Joe Flacco have always needed is a deep threat. The organization brought in Lee Evans to be that deep threat, and injuries and perhaps age have kept that from happening. Enter Torrey Smith. Flacco explodes. Flacco looked confused and rattled against Tennessee. His receivers weren't getting open, though they were running crossing routes, slants and underneath stuff. From the moment the game started, Torrey Smith starting running deep patterns, and Flacco started firing deep balls. Kudos to the offensive line for giving him the protection he needed to let his receivers get downfield, as he didn't get that protection against Tennessee. Flacco's deep ball is a beautiful thing, though he frequently gets too much air under it. Torrey Smith broke open deep FIVE times in the first quarter, and Flacco connected three times for touchdowns. Once this happened, the entire offense opened up. Flacco began to hit Boldin, Rice had lots of room, and the entire offense made it happen. Torrey Smith might just be the missing piece to this offense. If the line can give Flacco protection, the Ravens and Flacco may have just taken a huge step forward, as this is the most explosive this team has looked in a long time. Of course, the Rams might just have a horrible secondary too....But at this point things look good for Flacco moving forward with the addition of a true deep threat on his team.

Week 4 - Joe Flacco looked no better than Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, often keeping the Jets in the game with a bad throw (as with the one he threw to linebacker David Harris which was returned for a touchdown) and a fumble as well. The interception was ugly, with running back Ray Rice appearing to stop on the route and Flacco not seeing that was the case. He then delivered the ball directly to Harris, who ran it back for his first career touchdown. The Jets did a great job of covering most of his receivers and keeping pressure on him as well, though there were long stretches where Flacco had plenty of time. However, he had little luck finding any of his receivers open. Where he did have success was throwing short passes to running back Ray Rice and allowing his back to turn those into big yards. He also was able to tight end Ed Dickson against the safeties and linebackers where Dickson proved to be a mismatch. Still, there was very little room to work and Flacco could not find many open men open and went from the end of the first quarter until the start of the fourth between completions.