Posts tagged JoeFlacco at FanHouse

That noise you hear is fantasy owners all across the Internet rushing to change their starting running back before that dreaded lock kicks in.

According to the Carroll County Times, my place for ground-breaking news, Ravens running back Willis McGahee might not be in the starting rotation this weekend against the Bengals because he is still struggling with his left knee. Rookie Ray Rice, who is ranked just four spots behind McGahee by Yahoo! Sports, could get the nod.

McGahee skipped most of the offseason conditioning program and minicamps, raising questions about his dedication and knowledge of the playbook. If he plays, it figures to be extremely limited action.

"When you've got Ray Rice out there practicing and you don't have McGahee, that's what you do," head coach John Harbaugh said. "That's what you become. So, Willis is a bonus in my mind because he hasn't been practicing anyway. If he gets out there, it's going to be great. We've got to go play on Sunday with the guys we've got and we plan on playing very well."

Everyone needs sleep. Including fantasy football teams and Democrats. We will now discuss some ways for you to get rest throughout Week 1. Notice what annoying word I'm avoiding. One from each major position in order of league depth; I will most certainly remind you when these people have big games on Sunday.

Now shut your eyes and dream of responsible spending, my little hippie.

Power Naps
Kevin Smith, RB, DET -- Smith has quickly fallen out of favor with fantasy owners because of Rudi Johnson's presence in Detroit. Tatum Bell's absence actually hurts his value, which is kind of depressing for Tatum and his family. And friends holding his misplaced luggage. But here's the thing: Rudi was cut by the Bengals. Ingrain that in your domepiece, friends.

Matt Schaub, QB, HOU -- He started last year pretty warm and he'll do the same this season. When he and Andre Johnson are on the field at the same time, good things happen.

Marvin Harrison, WR, IND -- Why are we hating on this guy again? Blatantly scoring two TDs this week.

Just like going to the dentist or eating around a swimming hole, when Chris Mortensen "breaks" some news for ESPN, you need to wait a little while before continuing with your normal affairs.

Yesterday it was reported that the Ravens had signed Joey Harrington to a quarterback crew that might be auditioning for the new reality show "Four Quarterbacks, No Fantasy Love," but that news turned out to be a little premature. John Clayton is now reporting that Baltimore signed Todd Bouman for a one-year deal for $830,000.

The 36-year-old Bouman has bounced around the league and now lands with his sixth different team at a time where decent quarterback are actually music to the ears of the coaches. With Kyle Boller out with an injured shoulder and Troy Smith still recovering from infected tonsils, the Ravens are starting rookie Joe Flacco this weekend against the Bengals.

The addition of Bouman at least gives a young, inexperienced quarterbacking squad the pleasure of having an old, inexperienced quarterback to lean on. Bouman has a career quarterback rating of 75.3 and has thrown as many career touchdowns, 11, as interceptions. Sounds like a Raven to me!

There is one truth that I think can be held self-evident for all eternity: if your professional football team signed Joey Harrington, you are in for a really, really rough year.

Harrington has been a whipping boy and failure in both Detroit and Atlanta, the two biggest FAILs in professional football (or at least "arguably"). Now he joins the corps of crummy QBs that the Baltimore Ravens host.

Due to the current uncertainty with their quarterbacks, the Ravens brought in Harrington, Chris Simms (released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Todd Bouman (released by the Jaguars) for workouts Monday and decided to sign Harrington because he has the most recent playing experience.

Seriously? Harrington outperformed anyone? Didn't Bouman kind of ball last year for the Skins? (No. Of course he did not. I blame Joey --> signed --> flummoxed.) How can this even be real? I guess the only feasible explanation is that Harrington is similar to Mittens in that he can play "well" when there's little to no pressure, and thusly tricks teams into purchasing his services at quarterback. Or he flashes some upside or something and people get fooled.

UPDATE: Florio is saying that this report is false. I sincerely hope so. Because, well ... SCOOOOOOP.

At least the Ravens didn't wait until the last minute. Kyle Boller's bum shoulder could put his season in jeopardy, and Troy Smith's Level 5 tummyache forced him to miss the final two preseason games. Which meant that rookie first-round pick Joe Flacco was the depth chart.

Baltimore signed backup Casey Bramlet long enough to cut him, but they're still in the market for a longer-term solution behind whoever ends up winning the starting job.

Ideally, Smith would be ready to go this week and Flacco would get comfortable holding a clipboard for the '08 season as the No. 3 option. One problem: with Boller's future in doubt, the team doesn't have a veteran backup. Luckily, plenty of semi-qualified names hit the open market yesterday, which is potentially good news for the Ravens.

Before the preseason started, people were talking about Joe Flacco but nobody in their right mind would have thought he'd be starting in week one against the Bengals.

After last night's impressive outing, his second of the preseason, the rookie from Delaware might have just outlasted the rest of the quarterback crew that has had anything but a smooth summer.

"I think Joe has made the case that he can go back there and compete for us as the opening-day starter," head coach John Harbaugh said. "Whether that's the best thing or where we're at, we'll have to see in the next three, four or five days. He's acquitted himself very well."

Flacco completed eight of 13 passes for 72 yards in what turned out to be just over a quarter of work with the offense. Battling against rookie Matt Ryan, who was recently named the starter for the Falcons, Flacco appeared to be more in control of his offense and said after he is feeling more comfortable game by game.

"It was good to get in there and work with all of those guys," Flacco said. "We moved the ball a little bit and were able to get the confidence of the offense up."

No matter how Flacco is looking, the bottom line is Kyle Boller and Troy Smith basically handed the rookie the starting job. Boller's shoulder is still a huge question mark heading to next week and Smith couldn't have picked a worse time for this tonsil infection that sidelined him again last night.

The news continues to get grimmer and grimmer with the Ravens quarterback situation and the one thing the team doesn't have is a lot of time.

Heading into the final preseason game tonight against the Falcons, only rookie Joe Flacco is 100 percent while veteran Kyle Boller and second year Troy Smith are battling all sorts of ailments. Talks earlier this week had Boller possibly missing the entire season while Smith is a "50-50 chance" of playing tonight as he continues to battle tonsil troubles.

The decision to start Smith "could go up to the game," head coach John Harbaugh said. "It just depends on how fast he gets his strength back. You'd love to be able to predict it and say, 'Hey, we know what's going to happen,' but there's just no way to know. You'll see as we go. We want him to play, and he wants to play."

The more serious issue the Ravens are facing is what to do if Boller's shoulder injury is as bad as was reported. With just two inexperienced quarterbacks on the roster, Baltimore is going to have to pick up someone to toss in the rotation. Right now, they're just getting a body to fill the depth chart.

The Baltimore Ravens have been struggling all preseason with their quarterback situation and it isn't getting any easier as news surfaced today that "there is a growing fear" last year's starter could miss the entire season.

Kyle Boller, who started eight games in 2007, could miss all of '08 after he banged up his shoulder during the August 12 meeting with the Vikings. An MRI on the shoulder turned out to be worse than expected and he isn't showing a lot of movement around the practice field.

Boller was unable to throw Tuesday and struggles to raise his arm over his head. While jogging onto the field in sweatpants and a baseball cap, Boller never moved his right arm and crossed his left arm across his body to scratch his right ear.

"He's got MRIs that are being looked at," head coach John Harbaugh said.

This would obviously be a blow to the Ravens weakest position, but lets be honest, Boller wasn't exactly booking flights to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. If he's out, Harbaugh will have to pick either second year Troy Smith or rookie Joe Flacco to be the brains of the offense. With Smith still not 100 percent from a stomach virus that kept him out of Saturday's game, Flacco will be the man this Thursday in the preseason finale against the Falcons.

"I've prepared myself," Flacco said. "If that's the case, then I get another chance to work with all the guys and we'll see what happens. I just want to get better and develop more chemistry with the receivers."

With less than two weeks until opening day, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback situation couldn't be more fuzzy. The big question now is if a rookie could really be taking the snaps when they run out of the tunnel September 7.

After Troy Smith came down with a freak stomach virus before Saturday's game against the Steelers, rookie Joe Flacco took the snaps and after the game had head coach John Harbaugh leaving open the idea of a first year behind center.

Asked whether the competition might now include three quarterbacks instead of two, Harbaugh said: "We'll see. That's a fair question. I just don't know the answer."

"I think he's moving pretty quickly up the [learning] curve," Harbaugh said. "You saw it from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. So he's making a lot of progress."

The 18th overall pick in last year's draft had a respectable game, going 18 for 37 with 152 yards and a touchdown after learning he'd start just hours before taking the field. With Smith missing time in the preseason to strut his stuff and Kyle Boller being Kyle Boller, it isn't that crazy of a thought to think Flacco could earn this starting spot.

"I thought he did OK," Harbaugh said. "I thought he made some good plays. He had a chance to make a couple of big plays. I think when he looks at it on tape, he's going to feel like, 'If I just put the ball on the money, we got a chance to win the game.' Big plays are the difference in this league. And those are throws that he can make."

It seems like a lot longer than two seasons since the Ravens ripped off 13 wins, won the AFC North, and earned a home playoff game. Gone are Brian Billick and Steve McNair, replaced by fresh faces -- both coaches and quarterbacks -- although Kyle Boller, like a rash, refuses to go away.

Except for last night. The sixth-year player is nursing a shoulder injury and was unable to fill in for starter Troy Smith, who was a late scratch because he ate some bad Chinese food*. Which meant that rookie first-rounder Joe Flacco, who, according to some people, is barely 10 pages into the playbook, got his first NFL start.

Surprisingly, it was a little rocky at times. Still, Flacco finished 18 of 37 for 152 yards and one touchdown, but head coach John Harbaugh was reserved in his post-game comments.

"Joe did OK in there without much preparation this week," coach John Harbaugh said. "He'll settle down as he plays more."

As the Baltimore Sun's Jamison Hensley writes, this was supposed to be the preseason game where Smith staked his claim to the starting quarterback job. Instead, events conspired against him and Flacco found himself under center when the game started.

Hensley's colleague, David Steele, still has plenty of questions about the Ravens' next QB, but places most of the blame on the 10 other guys on offense. All fair points, for sure, but I'm pretty sure this is somehow all Brian Billick's fault.

* Speculation on the Chinese food, but Smith was unable to play because of a tummy ache. Maybe he ate too many pre-game jelly beans.