Joe Flacco

After two years of relative inactivity behind Tyler Palko at the University of Pittsburgh, Joe Flacco decided to leave the Panthers' program. He was not eligible to play during the 2005 season under NCAA transfer rules -- the Panthers had refused to release him from his scholarship. Flacco had a decent junior season for Delaware, getting acclimated to his new teammates and offense. He followed that up with a stellar senior campaign, as the Fightin' Blue Hens fell just one game short of capturing the NCAA Championship Subdivision title in a tough loss to Appalachian State. At Audubon High School, Flacco was a two-time New Jersey All-Group II, All-South Jersey and All-Colonial Conference first-team selection. He was named the Colonial Conference Athlete of the Year and South Jersey Touchdown Club Offensive Back of the Year as a senior. He was also a South Jersey Touchdown Club first-team All-Academic, Courier Post Scholar Athlete of the Year and Brooks-Irvine Offensive Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He received Super Prep All-Northeast honors and was rated the 33rd-best prospect in New Jersey by that recruiting service. Flacco was rated one of the nation's top 40 "pro-style" quarterbacks by Rivals100.com and earned Prep Star All-East Region accolades. Flacco was a three-year starter at quarterback, throwing for 5,137 career yards, including 2,020 as a senior. His career passing yardage total ranked fourth in South Jersey history and he also set a single-game South Jersey record with 471 passing yards. He earned three letters in football and baseball, and two in basketball. He led the baseball team to the state title and was also a member of the Principal's Honor Roll. Flacco enrolled at Pittsburgh in 2003, spending the season on the scout team. He saw brief action in three games in 2004, as he hit on just 1-of-4 passes for 11 yards, rushed six times for zero yards and punted once for 25 yards. He left the school after the 2004 campaign, but because he was not released from his scholarship, he was forced to sit out the 2005 season. In 2006, Flacco started 11 games at Delaware. He earned Blue Hen Touchdown Club Offensive Player of the Week honors three times, as he connected on, 264-of-417 passes (63.3%) for 2,783 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He scored five times and gained 54 yards on 83 carries (0.7-yard average), but was sacked 23 times and turned the ball over four times on eight fumbles. At 6-foot-6, Flacco was the tallest quarterback in school history (Scott Brunner, 1978-79, was 6-foot-5). Flacco earned All-American, All-East, All-ECAC and All-Colonial Athletic Association honors as a senior in 2007. He added ECAC Player of the Year and CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Year accolades and was also a member of the league's Academic Honor Roll. He set school records completing 331 passes for 4,263 yards on 521 attempts (63.5%) with 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He ranked sixth in the nation with an average of 460.6 yards per game in total offense, as he scored four times of 64 carries (0.3-yard average) and fumbled just twice. Flacco started all 26 games he played in for Delaware. In just two seasons, he holds the school record with 595 pass completions on 938 attempts (63.4%), ranking second all-time with 7,046 aerial yards. He threw for 41 touchdowns and had 15 interceptions, as he was sacked 48 times for minus-311 yards and turned the ball over four times on ten fumbles. He rushed 147 times for 76 yards (9.5-yard average) and nine scores, amassing 7,112 yards in total offense, an average of 273.54 yards per game.

positives

Has a tall, rangy frame and could improve his mobility by trimming down to the 225-pound range...Excellent long-range passer with great confidence in his powerful arm to make all the throws...Operated mostly out of the shotgun at Delaware, but does show adequate feet stepping up in the pocket...Might lack the foot speed to escape pressure, but shows good balance standing tall under the rush...Sets his feet well when making throws...Has a quick wrist flick and ease of movement going over the top to release the ball, showing good follow-through motion and has done a good job of improving his footwork (stepped toward his target better in 2007)...Has good snap behind his release and is very accurate on deep outs, generating good velocity and ball speed...Shows good zip on his short-to-intermediate throws and can get the ball into tight areas, when he sets his feet properly...With an extra year under his belt, he had a much better relationship with his receivers in 2007, as he was more effective at hitting them in stride...Will set and deliver under pressure, but needs to be more alert to backside action, as he is slow to sidestep the rush until it's too late...Will sometimes force the ball under pressure, but has a way of rallying his team from behind...Puts good zip throwing to the sidelines or when working underneath, especially when hitting the receivers on slants...With his arm strength, you would have hoped his coaches would have let him air the ball out more, but when he did, he showed good height and accuracy to feather the ball over the outside shoulder of his target without having the receiver have to adjust to the ball...Very rare to see his deep throws get away from him...Did a much better job making pre-snap reads as a senior than he did in 2006, as he is good at determining where the ball should go...Knows how to take heat off his short tosses and throws the deep outs with a tight spiral...More patient scanning the field as a senior, doing a nice job of reading through progressions (reduced his interceptions from 10 to five).

compares to

DEREK ANDERSON-Cleveland...Few quarterbacks in the NFL tower over a defensive line like Flacco and Anderson. Flacco has nowhere near Anderson's mobility moving around the backfield, but both have great confidence in their arm strength and ability to make all the throws. He has become the new girl on the dance floor in recent months, thanks to a decent showing in postseason all-star games. But be warned

negatives

Has marginal muscle definition and thin calves and thighs...Slow-footed moving around in the pocket and despite running for nine touchdowns, he is not threat carrying the ball (had success vs. mediocre competition)...Lacks the hip snap and lateral agility to sidestep and avoid the pass rush...Needs to do a better job of looking off his primary target and scan the field to find other outlets...Operates out of the shotgun mostly, and does not show a good drive back from center to his pass set point...Looks very awkward trying to roll out and throw on the move...Must refine his footwork to get better depth in his pass drops...Has decent speed getting the ball out, but does tend to hold on to it a bit long waiting for a target to come open rather than throw the ball away (prefers to take a sack than go aerial with the ball)...Improved his ball security as a senior, but still lacks a natural feel for when he needs to distribute it away from the defenders when forced out of the pocket...When he gets pressured, he will tend to spray the ball all over the field rather they pinpoint a target...Has improved his leadership skills, but still needs to be more take-charge in the huddle (does have respect from his teammates)...Might have more than a few blind spots in his vision, as edge rushers have had great success closing on him on plays when Flacco did not sense pressure until it was too late...Most of his pass interceptions or deflections come when he is forced to throw from the outside hashes.

2006: Suffered a left knee bruise and sprain vs. Hofstra (10/14).

Campus: 5.06 in the 40-yard dash

265-pound bench press

365-pound squat

225-pound hang clean

32.5-inch vertical jump

32 7/8-inch arm length

9 1/2-inch hands

Right-handed

24/30 Wonderlic score.

Attended Audubon (N.J.) High School, playing football for head coaches Mark Deal and Ralph Schiavo

Two-time New Jersey All-Group II, All-South Jersey and All-Colonial Conference first-team selection

Named the Colonial Conference Athlete of the Year and South Jersey Touchdown Club Offensive Back of the Year as a senior

Also a South Jersey Touchdown Club first-team All-Academic, Courier Post Scholar Athlete of the Year and Brooks-Irvine Offensive Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Received Super Prep All-North-east honors and was rated the 33rd-best prospect in New Jersey by that recruiting service

Rated one of the nation's top 40 "pro-style" quarterbacks by Rivals100.com and earned Prep Star All-East Region accolades

Three-year starter at quarterback, throwing for 5,137 career yards, including 2,020 as a senior

His career passing yardage total ranked fourth in South Jersey history and he also set a single-game South Jersey record with 471 passing yards

Earned three letters in football and baseball, and two in basket-ball

Led the baseball team to the state title and was also a member of the Principal's Honor Roll.

Accounting major

Son of Karen and Stephen Flacco

Father played football and baseball at the University of Pennsylvania in 1979-83

Born Joseph Vincent Flacco on 1/16/85

Resides in Audubon, New Jersey.