Ozzie Newsome and the rest of the front office made a statement with their off-season acquisitions so far. Two of their three best acquisitions are wide receivers. Anquan Boldin and Dante Stallworth are both veterans who have both experienced different levels of success in their careers. Derrick Mason, one of Flacco's favorite targets, is returning for the upcoming season. This means the Ravens offense will be stocked with talented and proven aerial targets that can play different roles in the offense.
With all the players the front office has worked to sign, will Flacco become leaps and bounds better than he was last season?
It should. One of main problems he has faced in the past two years is not having enough targets to look for when the pass rush is breathing down his neck and he was forced to get rid of the ball immediately. During his rookie year, Derrick Mason was Flacco's throwaway. That was the first receiver Flacco looked for. In his second year, he started to look toward fellow second year player Ray Rice when the plays broke down mostly because defenses had learned to double and sometimes triple team Mason.
With a new looking receiving core, Flacco will hopefully be more willing to scan the field for different players. Besides there will be times when he has two wide receivers that had over 1000 yards in the previous season roaming the field and a tight end that has a knack for getting open in the middle of the field and a speedy wide receiver that can be very effective in the slot.
The most important factor is how much progress Flacco makes in that crucial period in between his second and third season. He will be expected to make more reads and better decisions than he did in this past season. He will have to study a little more tape and squeeze in a little more practice time with his offense than he has done in his professional career so far.
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