No Love For Joe

The under-appreciation for Joe Flacco never seems to end. Even after leading the Ravens to a championship victory in an impressive postseason run, there are still doubters. Mike Sando recently compiled a list of who he believes will be the 10 best NFL QB's in 3 years. The list is as follows:

1. Aaron Rodgers (29)

2. Andrew Luck (23)

3. Russell Wilson (24)

4. Matt Ryan (28)

5. Colin Kaepernick (25)

6. Cam Newton (24)

7. Matthew Stafford (25)

8. Robert Griffin III (23)

9. Ryan Tannehill (24)

10. Sam Bradford (25)

Sando did address Flacco's absence from the list and gave him an honorable mention at the end of the list, saying he barely missed the cut. His reasoning is that in 2016 Flacco will be 31, and Sando does not believe Flacco will be able to produce as he ages, or at least not as well as Matt Ryan or Aaron Rodgers.

As we all know, NFL analysts, and sports analysts in general, are some of the more opinionated and stubborn people in the world. They make erratic predictions, analyses, and evaluations. Sometimes they're spot on (though this rarely happens), but most of the time we as fans get a kick out of proving someone like Nate Silver, the CBS statistician, wrong when our team delivers against all odds and predictions.

For the aforementioned reasons, Sando's list should be taken lightly, and with a grain of salt. 4 of the 10 players were rookies last season, not including Colin Kaepernick, who got his first chance to shine midway through last season. Sando is thinking young, and in many ways he could be right. However, Flacco only seems to be getting better and it is clear that further experience will maintain his position as an elite QB in the league for years to come.

I'll be making a mental note of Sando's list now so that in 3 years, when Flacco's potential has been fully realized, I can go back into the ESPN archives and laugh at his list.