The Ravens failed to make the postseason for the fourth time in five years, but where exactly did their players stack up across the NFL in 2017?
Whether it’s discussing the Pro Bowl or picking postseason awards, media and fans spend much time debating where players rank at each position, but few put in the necessary time and effort to watch every player on every team extensively enough to develop any kind of an authoritative opinion.
Truthfully, how many times did you closely watch the offensive line of the Los Angeles Chargers this season? What about the Detroit Lions linebackers or the Miami Dolphins cornerbacks?
That’s why I can appreciate projects such as Bleacher Report’s NFL1000 and the grading efforts of Pro Football Focus. Of course, neither should be viewed as the gospel of evaluation and each is subjective, but I respect the exhaustive effort to grade players across the league when so many of us watch only one team or one division on any kind of a consistent basis. It’s important to note that the following PFF rankings are where the player stood at the conclusion of the regular season.
Below is a look at where Ravens quarterbacks ranked across the league, according to those outlets:
Running backs
Defensive linemen
Tight ends
Cornerbacks
Wide receivers
Inside linebackers
Offensive linemen
Safeties
Joe Flacco
2017 offensive snap count: 1,027
NFL1000 ranking: 27th
PFF ranking: 23rd
Skinny: A herniated disc suffered in the summer preceded one of the worst seasons of Flacco’s career as he finished last in the NFL in yards per attempt (5.7) and yards per completion (8.9). However, he posted a 91.4 passer rating with nine touchdowns and two interceptions over the final five games.
Ryan Mallett
2017 offensive snap count: 59
NFL1000 ranking: n/a
PFF ranking: n/a
Skinny: If Flacco’s back was as big of an issue as his early play reflected and Steve Bisciotti recently suggested, you’d like to have had a backup who could have been a viable option to fill in for a few weeks. Mallett’s summer play made it clear the Ravens need to upgrade this spot, most likely through the draft.
2018 positional outlook
There’s no point in belaboring Flacco’s numbers as he was one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league from a statistical standpoint and needed a strong finish just to avoid 2017 being the worst season of his career. The real — and complicated — issue is determining how much his play through the first 11 games of the season was a product of his health, conservative coaching, the dearth of skill-position talent around him, and his own regression as his yards per attempt and yards per completion dropped for the third straight year. The only prudent course of action this offseason is to upgrade the skill-position spots and hope the 33-year-old responds favorably to new quarterbacks coach James Urban and stays healthy enough to bounce back. If the Ravens do improve the offensive talent and Flacco still doesn’t show meaningful improvement, significant changes could be on the table as soon as next winter.
