John Clayton "Flacco Is An Elite Quarterback"

[keebl3rs]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:7181972

Clayton says he is Joe is elite. I'm not sure I'd call him elite quite yet, but I have no doubt in my mind that he will become an elite QB. Just look what he has done with less than 4 seasons under his belt. Right now, he's a great, young QB who will continue improve and impress.

Glad to see Joe getting some respect from media. 4th year QB with a bunch of records, wins and playoff appearances really shouldn't be getting as much flack as Flacco gets.

[hawkprey]

I thought he said that last year.

[keebl3rs]

Did he? I don't remember. The video is from November 2nd of this year.

[BALTIMOREFLACCO]

John Clayton has liked Flacco for a long time. Like the OP said tough to say if he's elite yet, but I have no doubt in my mind he will be.

[berad]

Clayton's been pimping this for over a year, now. He's stuck with it, too.

I've always liked Clayton because he's more analytical than emotional. Also, he stuck it to idiots like Sean Salisbury.

[tonyg6996]

Clayton's definition of elite is top 10 though, so take that with a grain of salt.

[lowrider]

Well the other part to this is Clayton considers like 13 qb's elite. His definition of elite is different than other people's definitions. It is something like, can the team win a super bowl with that certain qb under center. And with how Flacco played in the clutch, I don't think a reasonable person can't say no to that. I wouldn't put him in the top 5 qb's. But he has to be under consideration for top ten for sure

[hawkprey]

Of course Ashley Fox would say he's not elite. No one ever takes defenses or weapons into account. Maybe he doesn't stink because of a game against the Jets. Maybe the Jets have one of the best pass defenses and Joe has 3 rookie WRs and Q to work with.

[scrock]

Its true Clayton defines elite QB play by a player who can throw for 4,000 yards and 30 TDs...something like that

everyone defines it differently

[Ravenslifer]

Like people said, Clayton has a long list of elite quarterbacks. Myself I think there are 5 right now: Brady, P. Manning when healthy, Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger. Guys like Eli and Rivers are knocking on the door, but haven't been consistent enough for me. I define eliteness as consistent excellence at a position, not one or two great seasons surrounded by mediocrity. Joe is getting there, but the bottom line is: in our 2 losses this year, Joe played terribly. In our 6 wins, Joe either played great to lights out (Steelers 2x, Rams) or carried the offense despite the lack of stats (Jets, Texans). In our 2 losses, Joe played terribly. If he wasn't great to elite and the team didn't "need" him to play well, we'd be undefeated despite him. That's the point. We're winning games because of Flacco not despite him, and we're losing games because of Flacco, not pulling them out while he does nothing. The offense runs through him, for better or worse. That to me is the sign of a very good quarterback.

[Ravensstrike4424]

i like John Clayton,hes one of the few guys i listen to in the media