Are Ravens ready to move on from Flacco?
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah caused quite a stir in Baltimore this week when his newest mock draft projected the Ravens using the 16th overall pick on Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback.
The selection prompted a range of reactions among Ravens fans, from those who love the idea to those who hated it to those who felt Jeremiah was just trying to get attention by making an outlandish connection.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Jeremiah is not the click-bait type. He’s a respected evaluator and analyst. He is connected throughout the league and has many friends in the Ravens organization from his time as a scout.
Mock drafts are guesswork this time of year. Teams will fill needs in free agency, which starts Wednesday, and that can change their whole list of priorities in the draft, which is still seven weeks away. Prospects will still have pro days and predraft visits. Draft boards will change significantly from now until late April.
In other words, nobody knows much of anything about a team’s intent right now. But is it really that crazy that the Ravens would select a quarterback in the first round?
The Ravens could perhaps find Joe Flacco’s immediate backup and potential successor in the middle rounds because evaluators say this quarterback class is extremely strong but it seems unlikely that the Ravens would take a firstround quarterback.
However, it’s certainly not impossible. Here’s why:
■ Flacco is 33, and in the previous three seasons he’s torn up his left knee and had a herniated disk in his back.
■ Flacco hasn’t put together an above-average season since 2014. The Ravens have had a revolving door of offensive coordinators and offensive skill-position players and a lot of injuries, so the team’s offensive struggles aren’t solely on Flacco. But the Ravens need him to play much better in 2018 if they want to qualify for the playoffs and make some noise there.
■ With Ryan Mallett heading to free agency, the Ravens will need a backup quarterback anyway. Drafting a signal caller this year would allow him to learn under Flacco.
■ Flacco’s contract ensures he’ll be with the team for the upcoming season. However, the Ravens could get out of the deal next offseason, albeit with some lingering effects on future salary caps. If Flacco’s struggles continue, the Ravens would almost certainly be in the first-round quarterback market next year.
For those reasons, drafting a quarterback such as Mayfield or Wyoming’s Josh Allen or Louisville’s Lamar Jackson at 16 seems unlikely. But it’s not out of the question.