The suggestion here isn't that Flacco is the second coming of Boller or that he's doomed to follow a familiar set of scattered footprints. Far from it. By all accounts, Flacco is bursting with potential and talent. (Though, it's also worth noting, there were some inside the Castle and out who preferred Michigan's Chad Henne to Flacco.)
But the praise, context and expectations that provided the framework yesterday were not unlike what Ravens fans saw and heard five years earlier, when the Ravens missed out on Byron Leftwich and selected Boller.
It's what the Ravens do next that might ultimately distinguish the two.
By all accounts, the Ravens learned plenty of lessons with Boller, a what-not-to-do list of how to raise a young quarterback in the NFL. With new faces and fresh minds on the coaching staff, you can bet the Ravens will have a different approach with Flacco - hoping, of course, for a different result.
Taking a quarterback in the draft is always a gamble, so it's not surprising that Flacco is no guarantee. Coming out of a Football Championship Subdivision school, he'll have to adjust to more complex defenses and quicker defensive backs. He'll have to fight for playing time - something he didn't do when he transferred from Pittsburgh so he could play immediately at Delaware. And he'll have to glean locker-room guidance from Boller, who is still surrounded by wisps of smoke from his trial by fire in Baltimore.
In fact, in many ways, Boller felt like more of a sure thing on draft day in 2003 than Flacco does now. Flacco inspires a sense of hope, but not unbridled, riot-in-the-streets, light-your-hair-on-fire enthusiasm.
He impressed plenty of scouts at the NFL combine and in personal workouts. Like Boller, his arm is constantly compared to a cannon, virtually classifiable in the military's weapons database. Flacco shot up the Ravens' draft board this spring, and the fact that they did so much dancing yesterday - pulling off two trades to get their man - shows how highly they regard him.
On paper, the Ravens' only two first-round quarterbacks are similar. On paper, both were expected to lead the franchise for years to come. On paper, both were praised for limitless potential.
On the field, though, is where it counts.
So let's hope it does work out, that Flacco and Boller are only superficially and contextually similar. The Ravens' revolving door of quarterbacks has spun way too many times. It'd be a shame if the Ravens' future amounted to little more than repeating history.rick.maese@baltsun.com
