"For Better or Worse" is a series that will look at various position groups leading up to the 2019 preseason. Instead of a regular position break down this series will compare how position groups look between now and this time last year.
Finally its time for the most exciting piece before we move on the defensive side of the ball. I chose to save this as the last offensive position because I hate confrontation and will be crapped on for either decision I come to.
The changing of the guard at quarterback has been hotly debated over the off-season and will be the topic of much conversation over this next season so lets break down the numbers to see if the quarterback position is in better hands in 2019 than it was this time a year ago.
2018
Joe Flacco went into the 2018 season as the 30th ranked quarterback in the league according to Pro Football Focus, yet fans were expecteing, or rather hoping, for a return to form for the ten year veteran. After the departure of Gary Kubiak following the 2014 season where Joe posted his best career numbers and quarterback rating (68.2), the Ravens offense and Joe became flat and often times frustrating to watch as the struggled to move the ball downfield with any consistency.
A lot of this was due to the incompetent offensive coordinators that were brought in who implemented vanilla and predictable offenses but simultaneously Joe lost his edge as a deep ball thrower which he had become known for, completing the third largest percentage of check-downs in 2017. In the last four years the veteran started to rack up injuries and it was evident that it affected his play style as he got flustered in the pocket and would opt for rushed check-downs instead of waiting out deeper routes like he used to. 2017 also saw his career low in yards per pass attempt at 5.7 which was the lowest in the league, yes even lower than Deshone Kizer and Nick Hundley.
Flacco did have an uptick in numbers in 2016 but 2017 saw his numbers in yards, touchdowns, completion percentage, yards per completion and QBR all dipped back down as he dealt with a back injury and continued to preserve his knee from a MCL and ACL sprain from 2015 by playing with a brace.
Joe never seemed to rebound back to where he was with Kubiak in part to both injuries and the insufficient resources the Ravens placed around him with journeyman running backs, aging wide receivers and bum offensive coordinators who are no longer in the league. However, not all of Joe's deficiencies can be put on those around him as he seemed to be mentally flustered while playing and refused to be aggressive and push the ball deep down field which made him one of the less threatening play-makers at the quarterback position in the league.
Going into 2018, early reports were promising for a Flacco turnaround as he was healthy and "impressive" in training camp with a batch of veteran free agent receivers who would complement him nicely, a pair of high potential rookie tight ends and Alex Collins who was coming back from a career season. Although many fans were disappointed that Harbaugh kept Morniwheg around for 2018, Flacco still had some promising pieces in the offense.
2019
In his play in the second half of 2019 it was evident that Lamar Jackson didn't possess the passing accuracy that Joe Flacco had as he completed 58% of his passes while Flacco completed 61%, but he did have a higher number of yards per passing attempt than Flacco. Although he was knocked as the least accurate prospect in last year's rookie class, Lamar had the second highest completion percentage behind Baker Mayfield. However a legitimate criticism was that the rookie had an unsustainable amount of passing yards per game at 75.1, only surpassing 200 yards passing in one out of his seven starts.
However, it is important to note that Lamar started the least amount of games out of the crop of rookies and he was playing in a Marty Morniwheg offense that was designed on the fly mid-season and leaned heavily into option plays with minimal passing attempts. Lamar is surrounded by unknowns as he will head into his first full season in a fully fleshed-out offense that is designed for him which will try to find a better balance between his assets as a runner and a passer.
Although he doesn't have as accurate and consistent an arm as Flacco, Lamar is a dynamic athlete who plays without fear. This intangible became one of Flacco's biggest weaknesses as he often played with trepidation and showed a lack of pocket maneuverability and awareness. What was Flacco's biggest weakness is one of Lamar's biggest strength as he showed a natural ability to move in the pocket and extend plays, however he will need to clean up his ball protection in the upcoming season.
Conclusion
Both sportingnews.com and the fantasy footballers have done a power-ranking for all starting quarterbacks and both rank Lamar Jackson over Joe Flacco for the upcoming season and I would have to agree with the assessment. Both are flawed but Jackson shows the upside with the ability to dominate time of possession, have defenses guessing and keep games close and controlled. This has been a knock for some as Lamar doesn't have the arm to help his team come from behind a large deficit but Flacco had zero game winning drives or fourth quarter comebacks in his last two seasons with the Ravens. Jackson's pairing with other players like Marquise Brown and Mark Ingram also make the team more explosive this year and I don't think the offense will disappear for weeks on end like it would during Flacco's time in Baltimore.
I hope Flacco can get a second wind for his career in Denver but I will take a fearless athlete over the beat up veteran who has an alarming percentage of check down passes for being a former gunslinger. I don't expect everybody to agree with the take but Lamar is clearly trending upward and the Ravens now have a clear quarterback identity as a group as Robert Griffin and Trace McSorley are similar to Lamar in terms of athleticism. Unlike last year's group of Flacco, Jackson and Griffin, the offense won't have to be extremely tailored to each quarterback.
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