Baller He Is Not, or Is He?

K.T.: I hate you all.

A new term of endearment.

***

This is about the seventh start to this entry. I’ve deleted the past six for various reasons.

I have homework, assigned last Friday. Thankfully, they’ve granted me two weeks of break to complete this reading. How generous. One of the things that I’ve come to take for granted is that they don’t waste much time with introductions. So unlike College Park, when you’d get a syllabus, they’d go through the entire damn thing, ask if there were any questions, then let you out forty minutes early. So wonderful. Now, instead, we get a “Hey I’m Professor Blank, let’s get started.” Which is nice, insofar as that we’ve paid the entire yearly income of third-world individuals to be schooled for one more year. I guess I should get what I paid for.

***

Kyle Boller, the Ravens incumbent quarterback, has been performing beyond expectations against the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. Previously, he’s played as well as I would. There’s a peculiar confidence in his throwing, and a great lack of scrambling. Compare to the past several years, when he lacked the confidence, and had a great peculiar scramble.

The Green Bay Packers have fallen apart, but the Minnesota Vikings’ defense has come together in recent weeks. Though their pass defense is middling (nineteenth in the National Football League at two hundred twenty-three point five yards per game allowed), they have been improving overall as a defense. As I watch the game, Boller’s been patient, makes his reads, and his throws have been on targets, a bit high, but not to the point of awkwardness. He looks like an actual quarterback.

This scares me. The Baltimore Ravens face the Cleveland Browns in week seventeen. The Browns pass defense has been surprisingly strong (fourth in the National Football League at one hundred ninety point five yards per game allowed), though this may be a function of the weak run defense (twenty-ninth in the National Football League at one hundred thirty-eight point two yards per game allowed). If teams exploit the run against the Cleveland Browns, then they will not have the time in the game to complete many throws, hence the deceptive ranking. Nonetheless, fourth is fourth, and I expect Kyle Boller to produce as a starting quarterback should.

Consider that the Baltimore Ravens know what commodities they have in their free agent tailbacks Jamal Lewis and Chester Taylor. They understand their offensive linemen are aging, and have started to substitute younger linemen. Mark Clayton in his rookie year flashes signs of brilliance that bespeak a long and productive, if not storied or legendary, career. Derrick Mason, their free agent acquisition from the Tennessee Titans, is still a player. Right now, the biggest issue is Kyle Boller’s fitness to run a National Football League offense. Four weeks ago, I would have trade Kyle Boller to any team for their seventh round pick, if I were a general manager. Shows you what I know.

Still, I remain unswayed by his recent performance. Against the Houston Texans three weeks ago, Boller could barely muster two hundred passing yards (he is credited with having passed for one hundred ninety-eight). Against the twenty-sixth ranked passing defense in the National Football League (two hundred thirty-seven point nine yards allowed per game). Note that this situation is different from that of the Cleveland Browns, as the Texans defense is overall execrable. As with their offensive line, their defensive line is questionable and overpaid.

Kyle Boller is playing for his career, as the consensus from several weeks ago assured he would not find even a backup position anywhere in the National Football League. The accepted wisdom holds that quarterbacks finally “get it” in year four. This is Boller’s third year, and he’s been hobbled by injuries over the past three years. Right now, he’s playing like a man possessed by the spirit of Joe Namath (let’s not insult the all-time great quarterbacks). If the Ravens offer him a hefty contract to stay, I would hurt myself. If anything, offer Boller a minimal contract. As I type that, Boller throws a thirty-nine yard completion to Derrick Mason for a touchdown. Hire a sturdy veteran quarterback, and have that veteran and Boller fight it out in training camp. Could Boller be one of those players that plays better when there’s something at stake? There’s only one way to find out.

The Ravens need to upgrade their offensive line and get more consistent (or any) play from the quarterback position. Whatever they do, they can’t afford to be crippled at quarterback for yet another year. Boller, based on his past few games, may be the answer, but there are just too many questions. Hell, I wonder if Trent Dilfer, the quarterback that Brian Billick jettisoned in the wake of the Super Bowl XXXV victory, is available.