Joe Flacco: Is he a top-5 quarterback?
(CBS News) Remember, way back in the summer of 2011, when Giants quarterback Eli Manning said he considered himself an "elite" quarterback and everyone laughed. Now no one is really laughing, except Eli.
Well, Joe Flacco must be trying to take a page out of Eli's playbook. The much-maligned Ravens signal caller has declared that he deems himself "the best" quarterback in the National Football League.
Some context: Since Flacco is entering the last year of his contract, his agent said that he is seeking "top-five" money. So it was no surprise when the former Delaware star was asked if he considered himself a top-five QB.
"Without a doubt," he said via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "What do you expect me to say? ... I assume everybody thinks they're a top-5 quarterback. I mean, I think I'm the best. I don't think I'm top five, I think I'm the best. I don't think I'd be very successful at my job if I didn't feel that way. I mean, come on? That's not really too tough of a question. But that doesn't mean that things are gonna work out that way. It just means that that's the way it is, that's the way I feel it is, and that's the way I feel it should be."
It's not exactly a shock that Flacco - or any confident pro athlete - would hold this view. But it's obvious that he is not statistically or subjectively or metaphorically "the best" quarterback in the NFL. As CBSSports.com's Will Brinson notes: "The reality is that Flacco's more like a top-15 quarterback, at least according to Football Outsiders. Using their QB efficiency metric, Flacco ranked 14th in total value among all NFL quarterbacks in 2011, and 18th in value per play. He was just behind Andy Dalton and Alex Smith, and ahead of Cam Newton and Matt Hasselbeck."
But statistics don't tell the whole story. After all, Flacco is the only quarterback in NFL history to make it to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. Last season, he was one dropped pass from taking the Ravens to the Super Bowl.
But whether Flacco is "the best" or subpar or somewhere in between, he can't seem to win in the court of public opinion - especially in Baltimore. The guy can't even get on a skateboardwithout taking heat.