In rating the NFL players by position, Pat Kirwan of NFL.com already ticked off a bunch of Baltimore Ravens fans by putting tight end Todd Heap in the "C" group of his position. Kirwan once again will draw the wrath of Ravens fans as he has now put QB Joe Flacco in that same level of grouping. From a story on Football News Now, Kirwan places Flacco on the same level as Sam Bradford from the St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman, Houston’s Matt Schaub and Cincinnati’s aging veteran Carson Palmer.
While Bradford and Freeman are good young quarterbacks, they have done nothing comparable to Flacco in his three years in the NFL and some of the QB's in the "B" group are also not anywhere near as accomplished as Joe has been. The "B" group includes Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning from the New York Giants, Tony Romo from the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Philadelphia’s Michael Vick. While it is tough to argue about Roethlisberger, who probably should be in the "A" group, I can take issue with every other QB at this level and show that Flacco is as good if not better than any of them.
It's tough to argue with putting Joe in the "A" group along with New England’s Tom Brady, Peyton Manning from the Indianapolis Colts, Drew Brees from the New Orleans Saints, San Diego’s Philip Rivers and Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. However, his "C" grouping is pretty much of an indication of how clueless Kirwan sometimes is in his ranking, predictions and assessments.