As if Ravens fans need to be reminded of their team’s well-documented, futile search for a franchise quarterback, today’s game at M&T Bank Stadium will provide a vivid snapshot of the hope and frustration that have defined the odyssey.
Finally, the Ravens may have discovered “The One.”
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Rookie Joe Flacco, the first-round draft pick whose poise and strong arm have stood out since the preseason, keeps getting better in ways that strongly suggest he is the most promising quarterback the Ravens have ever drafted.
You know fans are praying that Flacco — the 16th starting quarterback in the Ravens’ 13-season history — takes firm control of the position and doesn’t give it up for, oh, at least the next eight to 10 years.
And while fans chant “Let’s Go Flacco,” they also can gaze at the opposing quarterback and wonder what might have been.
Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, who started his career here as a sixth-round pick in 2005, established himself in Cleveland last winter by making the Pro Bowl in his first season as a starter and leading the Browns within a win of the postseason.
Anderson might not be the ultimate answer in Cleveland. He was terribly inconsistent down the stretch last season, played horribly in the Pro Bowl and has guided the anemic Cleveland offense to one touchdown in the first eight quarters this year. Anderson shares plenty of blame for the Browns’ 0-2 start.
Still, Anderson threw for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns last year, when the Browns finished 10-6. During the offseason, he reaffirmed his position above Brady Quinn by signing a three-year, $24 million contract.
One of the worst personnel decisions by the Ravens occurred on Sept. 20, 2005. That was the day the team inexplicably tried to pass Anderson through waivers in the hopes of moving him to its practice squad.
How the Ravens failed to see the next move coming still mystifies me. First of all, Anderson had shined for much of training camp, and had been exposed enough during the preseason that the league could see the rookie out of Oregon State had some game.
Then there was Cleveland rookie general manager Phil Savage, who had just left the Ravens after a combined nine years as college scouting and player personnel director.
Savage, now running the show for a division rival, already had done thorough homework on Anderson in 2004 with Baltimore, and it was no secret he was hungry for a good quarterback prospect.
The Browns claimed Anderson, who, even had he cleared waivers, could have been signed off the Baltimore practice squad by any team, provided Anderson was added to that team’s 53-man roster.
Savage wisely pounced at the chance to grab him.
Anderson obviously progressed as Cleveland’s No. 3 and No. 2 quarterback in 2005 and 2006, before getting his big chance a year ago, after Savage unceremoniously traded the overmatched Charlie Frye to Seattle.
Anderson rubbed it in the Ravens’ noses last fall by helping the Browns to two victories over his former team. In one season, Anderson accomplished more than the failed Ravens’ franchise quarterback, Kyle Boller, had achieved in five.
If Anderson would have remained in Baltimore, it could have changed history. Anderson probably would have dislodged Boller eventually, but he may not have thrived under former coach Brian Billick, who was Boller’s biggest backer.
Had Anderson stayed, It almost certainly would have meant the Ravens would not have had to gamble on a University of Delaware star named Flacco in this past year’s draft.
Yet, history and heartache aside, if Flacco pans out and achieves greatness, the fans will forgive, forget and worship “The One.”
