Last week during a promotional event with DirecTV, Jaguars
running back Maurice Jones-Drew and
Eagles tight end Brent Celek joined
reporters and fantasy football experts for their first ever Fantasy Football
Summit.
The event was hosted on a web platform called ooVoo, which
allows free multi-screen video chatting for up to 12 people.
Andrew Siciliano hosted the event as he prepares for another
season hosting the very popular Red Zone Channel. I was given the opportunity
to talk to MJD and Celek about the Ravens and get their outsiders’ perspectives
on Joe Flacco.
In Baltimore, Flacco receives a lot of praise from tight
ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta,. The tight end the Ravens
will be facing on week two had nothing but great things to say about the Ravens
leader under center.
“I feel like Flacco is definitely one of the top seven or
eight quarterbacks and I think he’s very underrated,” said Celek.
For fantasy football players, Flacco’s name has been
undervalued in starting lineups. This has as much to do with the players around
him as it does Joe, though. Ray Rice
is assumed to be the best fantasy player on the Ravens by far. Anquan Boldin has been reliable but not
spectacular in Baltimore. Torrey Smith
has emerged into a legitimate #1 wide receiver, though which could increase Flacco’s
with fantasy players.
Celek believes that over the past few seasons, Flacco has
been a victim of the success from his backfield.
“The thing that is tough is when you have a guy like Ray
Rice in a system that is so good. He can take away a little bit. Flacco is one
of the underrated quarterbacks when you watch him on film. [He] is an
unbelievable quarterback and I think any year he could have breakout numbers,”
Celek said.
MJD chimed in when it came to the Ravens receivers and even
reflected back on their inability to catch as the main reason Flacco didn’t
reach the Super Bowl, even after outplaying Tom Brady.
“Flacco played one of the best games I’ve seen him play in a
long time (in the AFC Championship game). As long as those guys catch the ball,
I think Flacco is going to have a great year. He’s [been playing well] five
years now and he’s been doing it ever since.”
Flacco’s fantasy value still remains down as he’s the 17th
overall quarterback drafted according to ESPN’s average draft position – he’s
averaging being selected near the 115th overall pick.
If Flacco produces to the expectations that MJD and Celek
believe he can, we should see Flacco’s popularity increase almost overnight.
DirecTV is giving you the ability to track your fantasy
football team as the game unfolds with their NFL Sunday Ticket package. Keep
track of your fake football team as you watch all of the real action unfold
from the comfort of your own couch each week.
To see a video of this segment, please click play below (I
come in at 27:35):
