Flacco Battle Tested
By Zack Cimini
Notjustagame23@gmail.com

When a player comes in and is drafted with little to no expectations it can make for an easier transition. After all your main mind set is too prove to everyone else that did not draft you that you’re the real deal. For Joe Flacco, his rookie campaign has to be classified as a rarity. A strong organization like the Baltimore Ravens was positioning him to be their future stud. Patience grew thin on Kyle Boller and suddenly Flacco was getting his chance to shine. Maybe being thrust into the spotlight unknowingly gave Flacco the chance to go out and not think about his situation.

He stormed onto the scene and really went unnoticed as far as having an impact until the Ravens made the playoffs. Up until then people were saying that Flacco was playing within the offense and the Ravens concept. They were limiting his reads, progressions, and shots down the field. You can say that for just about any offensive in the league depending on who the opposing defense is. For Flacco though he was making the most of those strikes down the field.

After the 2009 playoffs when the Ravens went to the AFC championship game the hype surrounding Flacco coming back was just beginning to blossom. His numbers were less than spectacular in the playoffs but his accuracy and arm strength was there. The key to what happened down the stretch in the playoffs in 2009 that was overlooked was Flacco’s inconsistency. Of all the things that you would not want to carry over, that did.

Flacco’s 2009 year did not start off anywhere near what he would of imagined. The Ravens were entrusting a bigger role for Flacco and he was not ready for it. A transformation of play calling saved the Ravens season, and shifted them back into the wild card spot. They finished the year winning three of their last four to gain position in a favorable matchup against the New England Patriots. The key to the Ravens end of season uprise was utilizing their backfield tandem. Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, and Le’Ron McClain were as good as any backfield units and will still be going into 2010.

One of the areas that likely hurt Flacco was at the wide receiver position. Before training camp began in 2009, the Ravens were caught off-guard by the sudden announcement that Derrick Mason would not return. It was thought to be an emotional decision based on days earlier that Steve McNair had been murdered. After some time Mason decided he would return. Mason though is an aging receiver that could not be relied on as a number one receiver. Behind him Mark Clayton and Demetrius Williams were not the type of receivers who were going to scare opposing secondary’s.

Thus the Ravens finally decided to upgrade at the receiver position. Bringing in Anquan Boldin was a strong enough move to show Flacco the Ravens mean business. Boldin may have taken a second seat to Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona, but he is a guy that is going to leave it all on the field. He punishes opposing cornerbacks and has a knack for finding holes and providing a target spot for quarterbacks to fit in balls. Baltimore also rolled the dice by signing Donte Stallworth. Everyone knows the reasoning Stallworth missed last season. He brings speed to the table and can fit in certain packages such as the spread and wide formations on seven to ten plays a game.

Last year wasn’t necessarily a disappointment from expected charted growth for a second year quarterback. For fantasy football fans it was. Flacco slid by the week on updated fantasy boards and drifted to a borderline considerable benching. He was the reason why you key in on securing a backup that can actually step in without too many worries. Flacco’s growth in 2010 should be a hit to the comparisons expected a year ago. He has went through enough ups and downs to bear the brunt of blows that come with the territory of being a starting NFL quarterback. Those situations are going to come and go, but Flacco shouldn’t linger stretches of weeks at a time with that happening.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

After all the gossip talk and predictions of what people think is going to happen with Donovan in Washington and Kolb in Philly,  training camp will begin and performance will be the true measure. The fantasy world is already anticipating a spike to Kolb’s game and expect him to be a strong fantasy starter.

Why shouldn’t they? He was a big factor in his two starts last year when he threw for 300 yards and had the offense ticking like it hadn’t missed a beat. Two games is hardly a scope of predictable measure. Quarterbacks have their streaks all the time, and more often than not a quarterback can step in and excel. Especially with a solid skill set as Kolb does have, and experience gained from learning behind McNabb. Often though once that quarterback gets truly tested defensive coordinators gain quickly on a quarterbacks tendencies. They’ll know exactly what type of pressure to throw at Kolb and schemes too throw off his rhythm.

Flashback to what the true reason why McNabb wasn’t traded a year before. A November 23rd matchup in which McNabb was yanked and Kolb came in and played like an ex XFL caliber quarterback. Andy Reid’s statement of just giving Kolb some experience and his other stammering explanations were bogus. If Kolb would have performed well then and there he would of taken over the reigns.

The potent combo and fantasy fanatics that are expecting DeSean Jackson to thrive as he did last year may be in for a surprise. Sure Kolb’s two starts last year were great games for Jackson. Both games he exploded for big touchdowns and over 100 yards receiving. For anyone that remembers those games, Jackson’s big play touchdowns were not due to Kolb’s arm. The plays involved Jackson making a big play after the catch and using his speed to run away from the pack. Kolb doesn’t necessarily have a strong arm; not nearly the strength of Donovan McNabb’s.

That’s the factor that could turn DeSean Jackson from a week to week consistent big time fantasy factor back to unpredictable. If Kolb can’t show the strength to air it out, teams will compress their safeties and bump more off the snap on Jackson. Jackson has shown the ability to make catches wherever on the field but we all know he is a guy that is a burner. He had 10 plays for over 40 yards, an incredible statistic, especially considering he only caught 61 balls. That’s a bad sign for owners banking on Jackson trending around the numbers of last year.

We expect Jackson’s big play ability to be diminished with Kolb under center. Meaning Jackson likely will have a tough time catching six to eight touchdowns. Yardage should still be there as we know Andy Reid is going to call enough pass plays to numerically make up for Kolb’s three years as backup. Seriously though, do not make the mistake of reaching too high on grabbing Jackson. A legit number one fantasy receiver should be somebody that without question can guarantee you ten plus touchdowns. We don’t foresee that happening in 2010. Breaking down the numbers of last year and looking beyond the big plays of Jackson, he had seven games with three catches or less.

Unless Kolb is an All-Pro type like Aaron Rodgers waiting to shine, it’s going to be a long painful growing experience for Kolb, Jackson, and Andy Reid.

By Zack Cimini

Notjustagame23@gmail.com

An elite quarterback as himself in Donovan McNabb should have had his pull of position in any environment of trade talks. We were not looking at a quarterback beyond being a capable consistent threat back in the pocket. He is not 37 or 38 years old. He is only 33 and was worthy of another two to three seasons with the Eagles. Departing from their teams of the 2000’s began last season when the Eagles decided to part ways with Brian Dawkins. This off-season that continued with Brian Westbrook giving his exiting papers.

With the rumor mill of Donovan McNabb every off-season being traded it just seemed an inevitable story but nothing more to it every year. If it were ever to happen you would of expected it last year, especially when McNabb was benched against the Baltimore Ravens. For the umpteenth time McNabb ignored the doubters and naysayers and got the Eagles oh so close to the Super Bowl. Up top in the Eagles front office the pressure kept being added onto McNabb’s shoulders. 2009 although a solid statistical year for McNabb ended unsatisfactorily.

As they say, business is business, and McNabb might have his best shot yet to make a lasting impact on the NFL in the latter stages of his career. Heading to Washington would seem like a laughable situation for anyone, but Washington will back him with talent. That’s one thing Daniel Snyder has never shyed away from doing. He will group together with Mike Shanahan and evaluate where their weaknesses are. For years in Philadelphia, McNabb really never had that great receiver or solid offensive line. DeSean Jackson will be a formidable threat but his rapid development was based as a second round pick. A gem of a steal that fell to the Eagles laps. There truly was no urgency in ever getting McNabb a true talented receiver. Come on…..Reggie Brown, Kevin Curtis, Freddie Mitchell. The best he ever could get was Terrell Owens for a year of his antic adventures.

We expect McNabb to have a seamless transition and thrive as a Redskin. His personable character will shine there, and you’ll see him flashing that patented smile as he gains his redemption. Injury prone or not, McNabb has found a way each year to get his team to the playoffs and make a push. It’ll be interesting to see what key components the Redskins add in this years draft. Money hunger is not an issue in Washington. The players on that team have been paid nicely. Getting their attention and drive to be committed as the true definition of team is the key. McNabb commands that with his presence and will surely revitalize the talent that went dormant under Jim Zorn.

In Philadelphia the brunt of the blame always fell on McNabb’s shoulders. Often times though the obvious criticism should of went directly at Andy Reid and his horrid play call selections. The team would literally force a ratio of passes than mixing it up with the running game. Sometimes it was downright stupefying. The chemistry was so unbalanced at times that the Eagles would go consistently in lulls that would allow teams to get back in games. Shanahan will not put McNabb in that type of situation.

Right now McNabb is probably bitter as can be. This extra season being in Washington instead of Philly will pay off in the long run. Draft McNabb in the same spots you normally would in your fantasy football drafts. He is going to remain a force and have better all around talent to work with. The highest of keys is an organization that is committed to him for the next several years.

By Zack Cimini
Notjustagame23@gmail.com

Cleveland is looking once again at huge changes of trying to dig themselves out from the graveyard of the league. They seem to be headed in the right direction be retooling from the key place in the front office. Making changes up there has been a consistent off-season move though from the Cleveland Browns that has translated into zero improvement as a team. Someone of Mike Holmgren’s caliber is not going to be taking his time to see what he has.

By now the entire league knows the Browns have little to no talent on the offensive side of the football. Just look at the carousel of the backfield as a prime example. The Browns have shuffled through numerous running backs in Jamal Lewis, Chris Jennings, and Jerome Harrison. At times part of the reason for this issue was due to injuries in the backfield. It seemed that Jennings had earned the nod for more carries and a larger share when he had a solid outing that led to the Browns upset win over the Steelers. Magician Mangini though had his own new plans and fooled all fantasy owners by giving the work load to seldom used Jerome Harrison. With only 1.9 percent of fantasy owners starting Harrison that has to be the worst official huge outburst fantasy output not utilized in leagues.

The worse area that the Browns have had horrible management of decisions is at quarterback. The Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn show has been a long drawn out three year horrific episode. During Quinn’s rookie year was the only real reasoning for either or to make a case for themselves. Quinn was a rookie and like most they’re expected to learn from the sideline. Anderson handled the pressure of having a highly praised rookie breathing down his neck like a poised veteran. He had a torrid 2007 season that made him the top out of everyone’s preseason radar steal of the year from the quarterback position. After a year like that you could only figure that Anderson was going to hold a starting role similar to the way Drew Brees did fighting off Philip Rivers, and Brett Favre holding back Aaron Rodgers.

Soon though we all saw that Anderson just had a career year and could not ever break out of his funk. Partly the blame went to the fact that Braylon Edwards developed bad habits with dropped balls, lack of effort, and inability to handle being a number one receiver. You’d think Cleveland would have tried to build better talent at the position of receiver for Edwards and their quarterbacks. That never happened and the Browns finally parted ways with Edwards this year.

On the other side of the quarterback picture was Brady Quinn. He got into a few games in 2008 but was given the job this year based on Anderson ineffectiveness once again. We all know he will miss the last two games with his foot injury but lets break down the ten games he did play in this year. Quinn showed zero pocket precence and played more like a backup quarterback trying not too lose a game. He has to find his niche with the Browns system and trust his physical skills and mental preparation to take some risks downfield. We know that he can take what the defense gives him and make that dump off throw. Any quarterback can do that, but if the Browns are going to ascend even with a few extra wins in 2010 they’re going to need Quinn to elevate his game dramatically.

Don’t be surprised if Mike Vick enters the Browns sweepstakes in the off-season. Cleveland needs someone to put the pressure on Quinn to be more of a force. Both Anderson and Quinn can argue they had zero talent this year to accomplish anything. The main weapon for them happened to be Joshua Cribbs who has only 20 catches but was who they used to run gadget plays to break up the routine throws of Quinn. Holmgren will come in and get his quarterback some play makers. It’ll be up to Quinn to shake his overall career sixty six quarterback rating. If not, the Quinn project in Cleveland will be over and over quickly.

Maybe when Quinn slipped in the 2007 draft there was a main reason for it. Why EAS has used him as a spokesman we have no idea. It must be recession low budget spending.

By Zack Cimini
notjustagame23@gmail.com

Looking around the NFL we’ve seen the tussle and round about back and forth changes with starting quarterbacks worse than the coaching carousel. In Cleveland, we’ve seen it with Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, San Francisco with Alex Smith and Shaun Hill, Oakland, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Detroit, and the list goes on and on. You’d expect some teams to have an answer somewhere within their depth charts to position their team and be able to lead them.

With Jake Lockler making the announcement that he will return for his senior season that means that there will be less talent for teams to try and correct these awful issues. The quarterback situations in the NFL are at a point of desperate measures. There have been numerous games this season that showcases this point. The following statistics by these quarterbacks actually translated to a win for their respective teams somehow. Luckily at the top of the crop for quarterbacks there are perennial future hall of famers that are taking much attention for how poor the quarterbacking actually is right now. Even last years rookies that came on strong a year ago have struggled in 2009 in Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco.

Jamarcus Russell- 7-24 for 109 yards…translated to a week two victory 13-10 over the KC Chiefs
Ryan Fitzpatrick- 12-20 for 86 yards translated to a week fourteen victory 16-10 over the KC Chiefs
Derek Anderson- 2-17 for 23 yards translated to a week five 6-3 win over the Buffalo Bills
*Jake Delhomme- 9-17 for 65 yards translated to a week 6 28-21 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs
7-14 for 90 yards translated to a week 8 34-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals

This is just stupefying to see these type of performances continue with winning results. How are teams unable to counter such a terrible performance from the lead catalyst on the other side of the ball? Since teams won’t be able to correct these issues in the draft it means they’ll have to dive deep onto other teams rosters in hope of landing some sort of respectable 2010 season. Some teams have excuses as they’re in a transition phase and trying to develop their young quarterbacks. Most though just need to make that tough decision and move on to a future prospect.

We do know this…the way Mike Vick’s played the last few weeks has likely re-entered teams minds to think hard about getting him on their roster. Vick seems to be settling back into NFL game speed and that has translated into more of his involvement with the Eagles packaging him in on crucial plays. Philadelphia actually has the best talented depth chart at the quarterback position. Kevin Kolb played fantastic in two starts due to McNabb’s rib injury. Philadelphia will have to find a way to continue build for a Super Bowl run and Donovan McNabb isn’t going anywhere. Look for the Eagles to shop their primary backup quarterbacks.

Brett Favre’s proved aging at quarterback can be a good thing. Arizona’s Kurt Warner is two years younger (38) and not showing any signs of slowing down. The game he missed with post concussion symptoms showcased just how far along he is running this team than backup Matt Leinart. Once the off-season comes around the Cardinals will likely look for Warner to give them an answer on how many years he plans on playing. If he has multiple years left in the tank look for the Cardinals to shop Leinart and give him a chance to go through actual growing pains on the field.

A couple of other quarterbacks to keep an eye on happen to be quarterbacks that lost their jobs this season. Tarvaris Jackson is in a position where he will have too much pressure and no shot at ever fielding a game in a Minnesota Vikings uniform as a starter. The way Brett Favre has come out and won is exactly how Brad Childress pictured it. It isn’t Jackson that you see Favre going to asking what he is seeing from another set of quarterbacks eyes. It is Sage Rosenfels.

In San Francisco Shaun Hill inevitably was yanked due to his Delhomme like performances and inability to stretch the field. A year ago though he was doing a fine job and had this team clicking. Maybe the pressure of having a former number one pick breathing down his neck to take his job finally got too him. Nevertheless teams like proven winners that can get the job done, and Hill has shown that he can do just that. It appears that Alex Smith is doing enough now that this quarterback battle of three years may finally be over.

By Zack Cimini

Donovan McNabb and the word controversy have seemingly been linked together since he was booed on his draft day. After last years up and down run that ended with another conference championship loss, it seemed that McNabb’s days in Philadelphia would be numbered. Rumors quickly peaked again once the Eagles signed Michael Vick. Was he brought in to get back in rhythm and then eventually unseat McNabb?

While most starters likely would have exposed attitudes to the signing McNabb welcomed it. He has rooted for Vicks success during his struggles and now as a teammate. The other area where McNabb couldn’t shake his reputation was a knack for injury. He went down game one to a hard hit that broke a few of his ribs. After all of his preparation and hard work in the off-season this type of start to a year could have sidetracked him to a dismal season. Especially when Kevin Kolb the guy that Philadelphia tried to bring in after benching McNabb last year came in while McNabb was hurt and had some stellar statistical games.

Now the Eagles knew what they wanted to know last year that Kolb can be there guy. So McNabb came back in and has went 6-3 since his injury. His critics are quick to point out that McNabb has been erratic. Certain games he is precision sharp and others the offense can be stagnant and missing the spark from the quarterback position. Name a team besides New Orleans that’s offense hasn’t been in that same mode at times. That’s why a team plays a complete season. People are too enamored by the trends of teams getting close to undefeated seasons year in and year out. That’s just not realistic as teams are going to go through growing pains all season.

McNabb has also missed Brian Westbrook for a good part of the season which has led to him having to rely on rookie running back Lesean McCoy. McCoy is going to be a great back some day but doesn’t bring all the dimensions a Brian Westbrook does. Westbrook as we all know has been an elite running back in the NFL for quite some time but he does so much as far as being a threat out of the backfield. McNabb has had to go elsewhere and has found the NFL’s newest deep threat for years to come in DeSean Jackson. The big play threat Eagles have also brought along rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin nicely. He has had some great games and has been really coming along as of late.

For McNabbs critics that will never go away their favorite time of year is right around the corner. Unlike Peyton Manning who goes through most regular seasons like a scrimmage but folds early in the playoffs, McNabb usually has his best performances and leads his team deep in the playoffs. This year should be no different. The Eagles have been banged up all season but have found ways to win. They’re starting to get healthy just at the right time. McNabb will be displaying that typical smile of his once playoff time comes.