Joe Flacco flew so far under the radar last year that NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock didn't discover him until October. He was so unheralded that a contemporary, Michigan quarterback Chad Henne, hadn't heard of him until December.
For Flacco, respect has come reluctantly, perhaps even grudgingly, in this year's NFL draft.
He is the quarterback from Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) team Delaware, the passer who threw primarily from the shotgun, the guy alleged to have stone feet and a penchant for getting sacked.
Thanks to the Senior Bowl and the NFL scouting combine, now everybody knows Flacco.
By Delaware coach K.C. Keeler's count, the Ravens sent 10 coaches and scouts to Newark, Del., to watch Flacco in a March 25 workout. The Atlanta Falcons flew up a similar number. The Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks sent quarterback coaches.
Altogether, 15 teams were represented, and when it was over, the Green Bay Packers, who were absent, asked Keeler for a video of the workout. There was none, however.
"He just killed the workout," Keeler gushed. "The buzz going around from pro scouts was the kid just made himself a first-rounder."
Flacco, 23, might have come out of left field for this draft, but he very well could end up in the first round. If so, he'd be the first I-AA quarterback taken there since Alcorn State's Steve McNair was selected third overall in 1995.
"I think he could [go in the first round]," said Eric DeCosta, the Ravens' director of college scouting. "He's passed every test at the Senior Bowl and combine."
At worst, Flacco is expected to be drafted early in the second round, where several teams are waiting to grab quarterbacks.
Ironically, Flacco was invited to the Senior Bowl as an afterthought when Matt Ryan of Boston College declined. Ryan will almost certainly be the first quarterback drafted Saturday. Flacco might be the second. That's how quickly he climbed the draft board.
After a solid performance in Mobile, Ala., Flacco arrived in Indianapolis at the scouting combine with a chip on his shoulder.
"I don't care what anybody says," Flacco said. "I know what my game is. They can say all they want, put all the pressure on me they want. I have as thick skin as anybody. So bring it at me."
Henne had a chance to see Flacco in Mobile and Indianapolis.
