Joe Flacco Fantasy News and Statistics

Joe Flacco may or may not be elite. But he is a Super Bowl champion as well as the all-time leading passer in Baltimore Ravens history. He doesn’t lead a particularly impressive list (Kyle Boller is second and Vinny Testaverde is third), but he leads it nonetheless. The 32-year-old will look to make some more playoff magic in his 10th NFL season in 2017.

Flacco started his college career at Pittsburgh and spent two years there, throwing just four passes as a backup. He would transfer to Delaware in the FCS and become the team’s starter in 2006 and 2007. He put up pedestrian numbers for the 5-6 Fightin’ Blue Hens in his first season.

It was his second year at Delaware that caught the NFL’s attention. Flacco threw for 4,263 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. The team earned a playoff berth with an 8-3 record, then made a Cinderella run to the National Championship Game after beating Delaware State, No. 1 seed Northern Iowa and fourth-seeded Southern Illinois. However, the Blue Hens would lose to two-time defending champion Appalachian State in the title game.

Despite playing at a small school, Flacco was considered a top prospect due to his ideal size (6-foot-6 and 236 pounds) and strong arm. The Ravens traded up with Houston to select Flacco No. 18 overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He and Matt Ryan (third overall) were the only quarterbacks selected in the top 50.

Flacco entered a three-way competition with Kyle Boller and Troy Smith for the right to replace the recently retired Steve McNair. Flacco would win the competition by default after Boller was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury and Smith struggled with Lemierre's syndrome. In his first career start against the Bengals, he completed 15-of-29 passes for 129 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in a 17-10 win. The Ravens would advance to the AFC Championship as a Wild Card despite Flacco completing 44 percent of his passes, averaging 145.6 yards per game and throwing one touchdown and three interceptions in the postseason.

The Ravens made the playoffs in each of Flacco’s first four years. He averaged 3,454 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11.5 interceptions. He put up similar numbers in his fifth season in 2012, but it’s that postseason for which he’ll be most remembered.

The Ravens went 10-6 and earned the AFC’s No. 4 seed as the winner of the AFC North. They first took down the Colts in Andrew Luck’s playoff debut. Then they beat the top-seeded Broncos in double-overtime in the infamous Rahim Moore game. They would go on to beat the Patriots in Foxboro and the 49ers in New Orleans in Super Bowl XLVII. Flacco would be named Super Bowl MVP. In his four playoff games, he averaged 285 yards with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Flacco parlayed the Super Bowl win into a huge contract extension that made him the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history at the time.

The Ravens have not advanced past the Divisional round since. Flacco missed the playoffs for the first time in his career in 2013, then lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots in 2014. He had 3,986 yards and a career-high 27 touchdowns during the regular season, leading to his first Pro Bowl invite as an alternate. However, he would decline due to his wife’s pregnancy.

Flacco would tear his ACL in Week 11 of the 2015 season, causing him to miss the first six games of his career. He was 3-7 as a starter and the Ravens missed the playoffs. He returned in 2016 and threw for a career-high 4,317 yards, but the Ravens would miss the postseason again with an 8-8 record.

Flacco enters 2017 with a new top wide receiver in Jeremy Maclin and a new pass-catching running back in Danny Woodhead. However, he may not be ready for Week 1 due to a back issue. The Ravens led the NFL in passing attempts and pass play percentage in 2016, so Flacco should get plenty of opportunities to make something happen.