Who Are the Best Deep Passers in the League? (A Cool Chart Shows the Flacco Enigma)

http://regressing.deadspin.com/chart...917039/@kylenw

Deadspin recently posted some charts that show how well the starting QBs in the league fare when they're throwing the ball downfield.

Unsurprisingly, Flacco is near the very top in terms of amount of times he throws the deep ball (4th out of 32). That tends to happen when you have guys like Smith and Jacoby (and, in our better days [sigh] when we had Q and Pitta and even Rice out the backfield opening up things underneath).

But his accuracy/success rate is toward the bottom (25/32) and the yards he's attempted per deep pass is even lower (27/32).

To me this is an indication of three things:

1) Flacco's natural aggressiveness/gunslinger nature/justified confidence in his own arm,

2) the lack of production from our WRs and coaches, because a guy who throws deep that often with two big speed threats in Torrey and Jacoby should have more success than the average team, which rarely has TWO guys who are that fast, and

3) how bad our offensive scheme is. I'm no guru but it seems not a coincidence that the average distance Joe's "deep" balls are going is close to 10. As in, we had probably plowed Rice into a bunch of fat guys' butts twice to give us 3rd and 8, 9, etc.

What do you guys think?

You also can't discount the fact that Flacco is not the most accurate quarterback when he throws the deep ball. He's missed more than his fair share of deep throws in career. Even last year in the playoffs when he was at his best, he missed a couple against the Broncos. He had a couple great long throws to Torrey Smith and of course the mile high miracle. But he missed Torrey 2 other times where it could have been a touchdown.

I see no reason why Joe shouldn't be one of the best deep ball throwers in the league. He has the best arm in the NFL.

mettenberger

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Originally Posted by iggyman555

mettenberger

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two 1,000 yard receivers this year. that 1970's offense is still tough to stop

No question Joe has the best arm strength in the league. There have been numerous occasions where he's simply not able to hit guys in stride either because he puts too much lift in his throws or the receivers simply don't run the route the way its suppose to be run.

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Originally Posted by Ravenswintitle

two 1,000 yard receivers this year. that 1970's offense is still tough to stop

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yea i mentioned it in another thread. that only happened 3 times ever in the SEC. cam is a genius harbs was the problem the whole time.

There are some, Jaws, who still call Joe, despite the stats this year, the best deep passer in the game.

Pretty much agree with all 3 of your points.

landshark52 deep balls are low percentage throws. Sure Joe has always missed a couple throughout his career, even last post season but we're not talking a 5 yard out here. Every deep ball isn't going to be completed. I would argue that Joe is accurate on deep balls. Since 2008 Flacco is 8th in yards gained on pass plays over 20 yards. Since 2008 Flacco is 6th in TD's on pass plays over 20 yards.

If Joe had WRs who ran solid routes and could catch the ball in traffic, his numbers would be better. Torrey is still an adventure when he runs the deep route. Watch how wobbly his routes can be... it's a little weird honestly. Jacoby Jones can't be trusted to make a contested catch. You're left with two deep "threats" who possess speed, different qualities of "hands", and unreliable / inconsistent routes. Nobody that can draw coverage in the middle. And a QB who loves to throw the long ball...

Give the Ravens offense an A.J. Green, Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Andre Johnson, Vincent Jackson, Jimmy Graham, etc... and Joe's numbers would be different, and much better.

Give the Ravens a decent offensive line and a decent running game, and his numbers would be better.

Frankly, I still think that anyone that thinks guys like Stafford or Cutler (or for the love of God Geno Smith) are better options is a fool... :)

Joe has been off this year with his deep ball accuracy.


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4. You need time in the pocket to throw an accurate deep ball. The O line hasn't been giving him the time.

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Originally Posted by JoeCool5

I see no reason why Joe shouldn't be one of the best deep ball throwers in the league. He has the best arm in the NFL.

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Arm strength isn't the only thing that matters when throwing deep. There are other aspects of arm talent that people don't acknowledge. Flacco might have top 5 velocity but the rest of his arm talent isn't that impressive.