Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been the subject of much debate throughout his career as a professional football player. Some falsely believe that Flacco is an overrated, joke of a franchise quarterback, while the rest of us understand that Flacco is an elite franchise quarterback, with a history of winning. Although Flacco is a solid quarterback, he has had his fair share of ups and downs throughout his career. In 2012 he led the Ravens on a magical postseason run to a Super Bowl victory, but in 2016 he and the Ravens offense had a very dismal season, leading to the continuation of a playoff drought. Despite last season being arguably one of the worst seasons in Flacco’s NFL career so far, he will bounce back. Flacco in 2017, will have the greatest season of his career to date, and here’s why.
One of the major reasons Flacco is going to have the best seasons in his career is the receivers group that the front office has built for him. Going into this offseason, many believed that the Ravens had one of the worst receivers corps in professional football. The Ravens had only one reliable receiver left on the offense for next season, Mike Wallace. However, Flacco expressed that he believed in the receivers group even without the addition of another receiver. Breshad Perriman is starting to turn heads at practice and is looking to finally become the player that the Ravens were anticipating when they drafted him with a first-round pick in 2015. Both Flacco and Perriman himself seem to think that Perriman is ready for greatness this season, and will be an integral part of the passing attack. The Ravens passing game was also improved with the addition of free agent receiver Jeremy Maclin this past week. Maclin is considered by many to be one of the better receivers in the NFL, and bringing him into the offense will give Flacco a big time talent with the necessary experience to succeed in the offense. With adding Maclin to the offense, the Ravens now have one of, if not the best, wide receiver duos in the NFL, in Mike Wallace and Jeremy Maclin. Both Maclin and Wallace have explosive potential and have both had 1,000 yard receiving seasons multiple times during their careers. They will both have the opportunity to reach that milestone again this upcoming season. The Ravens also have a small group of younger receivers in Michael Campanero, Chris Moore, and Keenan Reynolds, who are looking to make their impact on the offense. Each of these three receivers has talent and could find their way into the certain packages as effective rotational receivers. All these receivers are going to be great for the Ravens, but the offense cannot afford to be one dimensional by just relying on the passing attack. Luckily for Flacco, the running game is shaping up to be exceptional as well.
Throughout his career, Flacco has been most effective when he could rely on the running game as another means of moving the ball down the field. However, in recent years, Baltimore has not been able to put a productive ground attack on the field. This has not helped Flacco at all, and the offense has subsequently struggled. However, the Ravens running attack will be much improved as of next season. Baltimore brought in former San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman to assist in the revamping of the running game. The Ravens also have a running back that they believe can become a premier runner in the NFL, Terrance West. West showed off his ability last season to effectively carry the rock for the Ravens, although the offense did not run the ball as much as they probably should have. West will now head into his second season with the Baltimore Ravens and under offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and offensive assistant Greg Roman, he will be able to progress into a productive back for the Ravens. Baltimore also has Kenneth Dixon, who despite being suspended for the first four games of next season, has shown he can contribute to the running game. West and Dixon will make a good one, two punch when the time comes. Baltimore also went out and found themselves a major free agent addition at running back, in Danny Woodhead. Woodhead was brought in as not only a runner but a pass catcher as well, likely to be used for many check downs and other short passes. With the new and improved running game, the offense for the Ravens is looking to become one of the best Baltimore has seen in a long time.
The Ravens’ offense will be revitalized in 2017. With a new approach to the passing attack and ground game, Baltimore is setting up not only the offense but quarterback Joe Flacco, for success this season. Flacco now has one of the best receiving duos in the NFL. With Maclin and Wallace, Flacco will be able to be effective at throwing the ball. Flacco is also at his best when he has a productive running game to lean on, and with the Ravens adding offensive assistant Greg Roman to the mix, the ground game should be the best it as been in several years. Overall, Flacco is now set up for success, it will be up to him now to return to his elite style of playing.
