Mitch Stringer- USA TODAY Sports
After a 2012 season that ended in an exciting Super Bowl run, the Baltimore Ravens took a step back in 2013. The good news is that many of the problems that plagued the Ravens last year are fixable. Some of the issues they had were a direct result of porous play by their offensive line. Issues such as Ray Rice’s inability to move the chains and Joe Flacco’s erratic play are problems that were rooted in their poor offensive line play.
After receiving a hefty contract from the Ravens following his Super Bowl MVP performance, many expected Flacco to elevate his game even further in 2013. He responded by finishing the 2013 season as the 19th ranked quarterback in fantasy football standard scoring leagues. To put that number in perspective, being ranked 19th was Flacco’s worst ranking ever dating all the way back to his rookie year. He also posted a career high in interceptions (21) and a career low in completion percentage (58). Just by looking at Flacco’s numbers, on paper, it appears he suffered some sort of regression last season.
Heading into the 2014 NFL season, fantasy football owners may be a little wary to draft a player coming off the type of year that he had. Instead of dwelling on last season’s output, his fantasy value for the upcoming season should be determined based on what the Ravens did during the offseason to fix their dilemmas around Flacco, like the suspect receiving corps and the poor play from the offensive line.
First off, Flacco should have Dennis Pitta back for Week 1 after he missed most of the season with a hip injury and the team signed Owen Daniels in the offseason. Secondly, the team acquired wide receiver Steve Smith which should give them a sure pair of veteran hands to help Flacco out. The team did some minor tinkering on their offensive line, so they are clearly hoping that most of the line from last year can turn things around on their own and with the help of new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, who plans to use a zone blocking scheme he employed while coaching the Houston Texans.
Based on what moves the Ravens made or didn’t make this past offseason, they should be a stronger offensive unit than they were last year. They didn’t necessarily bring in any game-changers, but they did make themselves slightly better. Even when Flacco was on top of his game, he was considered to be a high-end QB2. With the team’s depth chart looking the way it does now, Flacco should be considered a very low-end QB2. If he’s available in a two quarterback league, then he’s worth using a draft pick on. Otherwise fantasy owners may want to avoid Flacco altogether and save themselves the headache.
Alexander Muir is a writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @AmuirAlex, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on your network on Google.
