Baltimore Ravens: Quarterback An Option in 2016 NFL Draft?

The Baltimore Ravens still have Joe Flacco to lead the way, but it would not hurt to draft a quarterback for the future.

John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco have been together since their very first minicamps in 2008. Flacco started every game in his career until this season when he tore his ACL and MCL in the win over the St. Louis Rams.

It was the first time every that the backup quarterback had to start a game under Harbaugh. The Ravens had three different quarterbacks (Matt Schaub, Jimmy Clausen and Ryan Mallett) finish out the season and all three have their struggles. Mallett was the best of the three backups, but he has a lot of maturing to do to prove he is a long-term fix as a backup.

Tyrod Taylor was the backup in Baltimore for four seasons before heading to the Buffalo Bills to compete for a starting job. Taylor told reporters this week that he still has love for the Ravens and is grateful for Flacco for showing him the ropes for the early part of his NFL career. He has said over and over that he appreciates learning the game as a backup and that has helped him grasp the game once he was given his chance to start.

Harbaugh has previously said the reason he liked Taylor so much was that he brought a new dimension to the game if he was needed. Prior to Taylor being with the team, the Ravens had Troy Smith serve as the backup. Their mobility in the pocket is difficult to predict which does not allow defense to bring added pressure. The backups this season were sitting ducks in the pocket and defenses brought the pressure that created mistakes.

The the read-option is slowly incorporating itself into the NFL. Several teams have quarterbacks that are perfect for that style of offense, including Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton. Newton’s success has led the Panthers to this year’s Super Bowl and Wilson started the last two Super Bowls. That is enough proof that the read-option is effective at the professional level.

Cardale Jones is a player that is going to get looked at by every team in the league. The NFL is a copycat league and all the hype surrounding Newton is going to help Jones during the draft process. Jones has a terrific arm that can make all the throws and is also enough of a threat on the ground to keep defenses on their heels. He is not someone who will be ready to step in as a starter from day one, but the Ravens are not looking for that anyways. It’s unlikely that Jones is still available when the Ravens are looking for a quarterback as I expect Jones to go in the third or fourth round. I would not expect Baltimore to think about selecting a QB until the fifth round or later.

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Jacoby Brisset is another quarterback with athleticism that should be available in the late rounds. Many feel that he is just an athlete playing the position, but if you watch the tape, he has the tools to make a lot of the throws needed.

Should the front office decide they want to go with a traditional drop back passer there are two Pac-12 guys that catch my eye. Stanford QB Kevin Hogan and USC’s Cody Kessler both have the skills to translate into effective NFL quarterbacks. Both could be groomed into the man for future.

This draft does not have a consensus top signal caller as many of the previous years, but it does have an abundance of players that should stick around in the league. This is one of the deeper classes in recent memory and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if four or five quarterbacks selected this year are starters down the road. We just have no idea which will put it all together once they reach the next level.

This is still Joe Flacco‘s team for the foreseeable future. At some point this offseason, he is going to get that contract restructured and it will likely add extra years to his deal. That does not mean the future cannot begin to be groomed. The Ravens wouldn’t mind to have someone waiting in the wings as Flacco is now in his 30s.

Next: Ravens: Five Free Agents That Fit

The Ravens do not necessarily have to select a quarterback in this draft. They have plenty of other needs on defense and playmakers on offense. Grabbing one wouldn’t hurt either as the talent in this class might not be seen again for another couple seasons.

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