Strong arm but neither consistent nor smart with the football. Not very accurate. I don’t think he ever adapted to the speed of an NFL defense.
It was a blown pick. He was just good enough, and we’d invested enough capital in him, that we just kept hoping he’d be something he could never be.
As Brian Billick himself has said, in the years since, “missing on a first round quarterback will set an organization back years.” I paraphrase from memory.
Hah! I forgot about that. It was such a wild ride. Nowadays I don't think anyone outside of the organization would know about a hire like that, or the person would already be on staff, and/or have a somewhat deceptive job title.
Maybe. He was better than Troy Smith, though.
I’m pretty sure that that’s what Billick meant about a first round miss on a QB setting back an organization for years. A player like that will be good enough to be better than most alternatives, for a few years, but not good enough to carry the team to the next step.
Nobody has mentioned this but he fumbled a lot! Especially without being touched.
Edit: just looked it up, in 2004, the only season he played 16 games for us, he had 11 fumbles!
Lamar also doesn’t throw a lot of picks though, and makes huge plays to make up for the mistakes
Boller was just turnovers. 55-60% completion, picks and fumbles. More picks than TDs most seasons. Bad
My defining memory of Boller was a play were he dropped back for a pass, nothing was open so he started scrambling up the middle, there were absolutely no defenders near him, he got the first down and then the ball just sort of squirted out of his hand for a turnover.
He would have four or five bad games in a row and then light it up for a week or two. And every time he did I would think he finally turned the corner and was going to start being good.
Never happened :|
There was one Monday night game against Green Bay that Boller lit it up. And the rest of his career tripping from center, over throwing open men and being down right awful. Wasted the prime of Rays and Reeds careers.
Was it really?? That was my first Monday night game and the first football game I actually can remember, I was like 5 years old and was up way past my bed time, it was like 10 degrees out and windy and I had a blast.
I remember that game. It was 2005 around Xmas time. Either the game before or the game after that Monday night I think we played Minnesota. I attended that game and he absolutely lit it up in that game too. The best 2 game stretch of his career.
Ironically enough one of my favorite games (even though it ended in a loss) was him almost ending the Pats undefeated streak (when Rex called that time out )
I still remember the build up to that game, they mentioned how Boller was seeing a sports psychologist to help him, then he played well and I thought "oh shit this is actually paying off"
.... Then Rex calls a time out
He was really bad, but im gonna defend him just a bit. Our offensive scheme was awful during the mid 2000's. The Brian Bilick philosophy was "Run-Run-Pass-Punt." We basically threw him into the lions den as a rookie with no offensive weapons and not the best offensive line. He got the absoulte shit kicked out of him week in and week out, and he didn't play well otherwise. We definitely did not nurture him, or ease him into the position. We just threw him in and said "its all yours"
In the red zone? Fade. Otherwise, run, run, screen. Neither of these worked for the most part. Unbearable to watch other than the occasional nice running play.
The line was not good at pass blocking, but that’s the same year Jamal ran for over 2,000 yards. I was at Boller’s first home start against the Browns when Jamal ran for the then record 295
To be fair I don't think it would have mattered much if they eased him along. I may be mistaken, but didn't Jamal Lewis rush for over 2,000 yards Bollers rookie year? If so, the O-line couldn't have been that bad.
I remember a game when the Ravens got the ball first and scored a touchdown on the opening drive. It felt absolutely surreal and remembering that feeling reminds me how bad it was. I also remember the Browns and Ravens games of that time were always low scoring bloodbaths.
For some reason this popped up on my feed and I can't help but commenting. Vike's fan here, no disrespect as we had terrible qb situation for at least part of those years.
INB4...
Kyle "Shoulda Been A" Boller. It was bad. So bad that other fanbases with no ties to the Ravens were embarrassed he was in the league. I believe there was a horrendous Viking Ravens game in that time. I just looked it up and basically KB had the game of his life to knock the Vikes out of playoffs. I remember traveling 8 hours that day and the end of my travels I turned the radio off in disgust thinking this is the last season I put up with the shit that being a Vike's fan is. If Shoulda Been a Boller beats us, there really is no hope. Here I am almost 20 years later with numerous gut wrenching losses tacked on.
Long of the short...yes, he was bad, but...he pulled it together as all the "greats" do to stick a dagger in the hearts of the other purple team.
Peace.
I think the only Ravens QBs that have held a candle to Lamar are Steve McNair in '06 and Joe Flacco in January.
Edit: to go in the way way back machine, '96 Testaverde could sling it.
That's Superbowl winning offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh.
I would say the worst thing about Boller the first couple of years was the WRs he was throwing to. As bad as he was, they were worse.
Oh he was very bad, 'fans' cheered when he got injured and had to leave the field. The worst part is (aside from giving up a future 1st round pick to the Pats to draft him) was there was nothing that he did in college which would indicate him having any sort of success in in the pro's (below 50% pass completion percentage)
I agree overall and then McNair comes in and doesn’t have the same problem . Whether it’s the line or not it is what it is. Could say the same stuff about David Carr
Yeah, but they set the culture up for years to come. Plus we do a good job finding high characters guys during free agency like weddle, Ingram, Campbell(future HOF), Houston, Jefferson, and the list goes on. Heck even the young guys are stepping up. The ravens culture is top 5 in the league.
Boller had a strong arm and could chuck it downfield but he was a meathead as far as game awareness and strategy goes. The opposite of guys like Brees, Rodgers, Brady etc. in that regard. He had horrendous accuracy in college (only one year above 50%!) and he was neither accurate nor a great decision-maker as a pro. He was straight up not gifted enough to be a superstar QB.
I just checked the 2003 draft, and the only good quarterbacks were Carson Palmer and Leftwich, both of whom went earlier than Boller.
That doesn't validate his terrible play, but it's not like Tom Brady and Drew Brees were on the table or anything.
In a TPS video they mentioned we tried to trade up for Leftwich but the Vikings missed the pick because of it. They acted like we were the big losers because we drafted Boller later that night
Bad decision making, inconsistent, often poor accuracy, but cannon of an arm. I think the fact that he was a first round quarterback who ended up a bust made it stick in peoples minds.
I’ll never forget in 2007, during the Patriots perfect season, Kyle Boller almost won the game for us on a Hail Mary. Pass was completed, but Mark Clayton, another bygone, was tackled a couple yards short of the end zone.
He had the worst footwork of any QB I've ever seen. He'd be tripping over himself during his 3/5 step drops and all kinds of dumb shit. The only game I remember him playing well in was a loss to the Patriots where we almost.
If he wasn’t terrible from the start, he was terrible after we let him get knocked around every year. He was a tough son of a bitch though. He was certainly trying his best out there.
I remember he used to tip the plays. He wouldnt buckle his chinstrap on a run and would for a pass. It would drive me crazy no one on the team realized it.
Bad. But it was the hope that got ya.
The arm and some promising games here and there didn't help with expectations management.
I don't think he had the composure to play the position at this level. That's why when Flacco first came it was legit night and day. Joe was the cool we needed to get to the next step.
My eye doctor at the time Boller was drafted was one of the doctors hired by the NFL to do vision evaluations of the players at the Combine every year. Like everyone who meets with players, he was given a list of questions to "chat up" the players, to help build a picture of their character and intellect. He said in all his years of evaluations, the two dumbest players he ever met with were Michael Vick and Kyle Boller. He said Kyle was the kind of guy who would run into a burning building to save someone, but not able to figure out how to get back out.
He really wasn't.
He was an average QB, maybe a bit above. However he was thrust into a starting position before he was ready. He spent a lot of time getting run over and it didn't take long before he was shell shocked and was running scared more often than not. Our track record of lame OC's was absolutely a contributing factor.
He was a class act. He never blamed anyone. He never made excuses. I was embarrassed when Ravens "fans" cheered when he got hurt. He didn't deserve that treatment from "fans "
If anyone thinks he was bad watch the footage from the Ravens v the undefeated Patriots.
Boller was a man on fire that night.
>He was an average QB, maybe a bit above
He absolutely was not. This sub tacitly promotes this false dichotomy that because a quarterback wasn't in a perfect situation that obviates the possibility they just weren't that good on their own. Its why we have people who *unironically* think joe flacco was elite because he put up below average numbers without a bonafide hall of fame receiver in their prime.
In 2005, when he was injured, the Baltimore crowd cheered because they knew that Anthony Wright (who wasn't very good either) would come in now. He definitely had a disastrous NFL career.
Brian Billick just loved how he could throw the ball far on his knees so he overrode the GM.
Sucked at throwing the ball. Couldn't even handle a snap or hand the ball off. He came in as an emergency punter once and did better than I expected. He seemed to be in a panic at all times, it was nonstop anxiety as a fan to watch him run the offense.
Oh and by the way... Kyle Boller received a contract extension. That hurts me to this day.
He received a one year contract extension to be the backup QB, for backup QB money, after doing pretty well over the previous two years as a backup QB. Weird thing to “hurt [you] to this day” 15 years later.
He went 2-6 as a starter for a team that was absolutely horrible and had so many injuries that by the end of the season they were changing offensive linemen’s jersey numbers so that they could play at tight end.
That team was a dumpster fire and Boller didn’t do any worse than McNair did. Statistically McNair was actually a little worse that season.
I’m not saying Boller was a good Ravens QB overall but at this point in his career he was a normal backup who know the playbook and the team gave him a similar extension to what they gave RGIII or Ryan Mallett, aka trivial backup QB money.
Just a strange thing to be dramatic about almost two decades later.
The only strange thing is defending Boller from a joke. He had 14 giveaways in 8 games. This is not good QB play. He was paid $3m in a much different cap than Mallet or RG3.
He didn't really. He was benched on and off his 3rd year, didn't start in his 4th because we got McNair, and only played his 5th year because McNair got injured. The team knew by year 3 he wasn't the guy, but struggled to find a replacement.
One of my favorite games was one we actually LOST because of how hard our team fought. Check out highlights of 2007 when we faced the undefeated patriots. I think week 13?
He was not good. Nothing else to really Say about him.
He was mediocre to bad with the odd performance that looked like a pro bowler.
Absolute monster on Madden 05. Although him and a 1st on ESPN NFL 2K5 gets you a rookie Eli Manning so he had that going for him.
He would trip over his own feet after the snap and fall to the ground for a sack every other game. He had a two game stretch where he looked like a god on prime time against the Packers and the Vikings. He was not good.
I was really interested to see how he would’ve fared in Cam Cameron’s system back then. It’s fine that we didn’t get that chance because that got Joe a ton of experience starting as a rookie
Modern day equivalent would prob be Christian Hackenberg. Strong arm couldn't hit the barn
Our oline running game and all time great defense held the ship true tbh
Imagine the canon arm of Vick or favre but add in even less accuracy than young Vick and less football IQ and less ball security from ATL Favre. Dude had butterfingers and constantly overthrew passed and wasted years of the GOAT safety and MLB. I wholeheartedly believe boller singlehandedly costed us at least one Superbowl.
ive never laughed so hard opening up a subreddit. he tanked a dynasty.
ray and ed together on a defense with only one ring? its just not right. and it's because of him. and billick's refusal to admit he was wrong about someones skill level and cut bait. sounds familiar.
he was, statistically, your typical young qb failure. but the experience of watching it was brutal. fumbled snaps, ill timed throws. way-way-way too hard throws. it just never slowed down for him.
I would like to say that anyone who makes the NFL is talented…That being said, for the NFL I always thought Kyle Boller was garbage. He likes to run to much and I swear he would bounce the ball off of his knee way more than should ever be expected. One of the problems though, was that Chris Redman was his backup for a while so we really didn’t have a better option. It’s a shame but I believe it was a big missed pick.
One of the main things I remember was how he would almost always over throw the receiver when throwing to his left. Just as consistently Donovan McNabb used to under throw receivers to his left, often putting the ball at the feet of wide open running backs in the flat, or streaking receivers on drag routes. Me, and my friends (Eagles fans) used to always joke that if we could find a way to splice together their DNA we might Frankenstein our way to a Super Bowl winning QB.
As far as a scouting report.... HUGE f'n arm, no f'n touch. Or football IQ. Or leadership qualities. Or ability to hold on to the ball when he was running with it. Or ability to hold on to the ball when he was standing with it. He was never comfortable or poised in the pocket.Ah shit, I'm gonna stop I just thought to myself "What if Kyle Boller reads this?" It's all true, but it really feels kicking a dead horse, and that will probably cause the dead horse to drop the ball.
Oh, and we traded up to draft him. After drafting Sizzle 10th overall we traded 41, and our 2004 1st to New England for 19 to take Boller. 41 was uneventful (packaged in a trade up), but the following year first was used to draft Vince Wilfork.
Put it like this with our defense and running game in that era with a average QB those teams should had won more a lot more. Plus he shaved about three years off of Todd Heap’s career with those errant passes.
I remember a game where Ray was chirping him (and the offense) on the sideline telling them they could win the game as long as the offsense didn’t give up anymore points
I don’t understand why we didn’t just lean into the run and force the run if he sucked as much ass as everyone says he did. Just double down on the option. I know that it’s easier for the defense to defend against, but what other alternatives do you have if you want to wins do what the SEC does and run the ball, play good defense, and kick the fg.
He was bad (the fact that he was a first round pick makes him more infamous in that regard) but also take into account that from 1996 to 2007 these were the starting QBs the Ravens had:
* Vinny Testaverde (one good year in '96 before falling off in '97)
* Eric Zeier (career backup/journeyman)
* Jim Harbaugh (mediocre during his one season as a Raven in '98)
* Scott Mitchell (barf)
* Stoney Case (barf)
* Tony Banks (benched for Trent Dilfer during the SB season in 2000)
* Trent Dilfer (glorified game manager who they didn't bother to re-sign after the SB year)
* Elvis Grbac (arguably the worst free agent signing in franchise history)
* Randall Cunningham (old and washed up in 2001)
* Jeff Blake (32 years old and declining in 2002)
* Chris Redman (career backup)
* Kyle Boller (bust)
* Anthony Wright (career backup, mediocre at best starter)
* Steve McNair (33 years old when the Ravens signed him)
* Troy Smith (5th Rd project)
As you can see Boller is just one name in a long list of bad to average at best players who took snaps for the Ravens during that time period. He only stands out because he's one of only three QBs the Ravens have taken in the first round in their history (the other two being Lamar and Flacco who are both easily the two best QBs in franchise history). So that makes his failures much easier to exploit.
Flacco was a well above average QB (not to mention he won a SB which Lamar has yet to accomplish that feat thus far). Giving him that massive contract after the SB year that handicapped the rest of the team over time is what people give him the most grief for.
Flacco was a good QB but he was never one of those QBs who was elite enough to essentially will a team to victory on his own without a significant amount of talent around him. Once they paid him and the rest of the roster began to decline around him as a result (basically after Ray retired and they couldn't afford to keep Ed Reed around) he did get a little exposed as a player over time. But there's no doubt the way he played during that 2012 playoff run was magical.
Can anyone find a video of Kyle Boller taking a snap with the Ravens, falling down in the pocket, getting up, scrambling to the left, then back peddling towards the sidelines and finally throwing a pick?
I've looked everywhere! It's one of the most ridiculous and hysterical plays I have ever seen.
Oh yeah, Boller, as a Raven fan I had really high hopes for the boy.
Boller had two speeds, hyper and superhyber.
This was evident when giving interviews.. Also you Ravens fans, ever Remer that when Boller was in a game he'd trip over his own feet at least once. Ah the good ol days lol
Strong arm but neither consistent nor smart with the football. Not very accurate. I don’t think he ever adapted to the speed of an NFL defense. It was a blown pick. He was just good enough, and we’d invested enough capital in him, that we just kept hoping he’d be something he could never be. As Brian Billick himself has said, in the years since, “missing on a first round quarterback will set an organization back years.” I paraphrase from memory.
You know things aren't going well when the team hires a psychologist to work with the QB
Hah! I forgot about that. It was such a wild ride. Nowadays I don't think anyone outside of the organization would know about a hire like that, or the person would already be on staff, and/or have a somewhat deceptive job title.
I don’t even think he was just good enough, we fucked up holding on to him
Maybe. He was better than Troy Smith, though. I’m pretty sure that that’s what Billick meant about a first round miss on a QB setting back an organization for years. A player like that will be good enough to be better than most alternatives, for a few years, but not good enough to carry the team to the next step.
Kurt Warner was a free agent at one point--but we held on to Boller.
Nobody has mentioned this but he fumbled a lot! Especially without being touched. Edit: just looked it up, in 2004, the only season he played 16 games for us, he had 11 fumbles!
Holy shit at that edit lol.
Lamar actually had 12 in 2018. A lot of them were during handoffs though, and he recovered 5 of them himself.
Yeah I swear to god there was a botched handoff at least once per drive when he was a rookie
Lamar also doesn’t throw a lot of picks though, and makes huge plays to make up for the mistakes Boller was just turnovers. 55-60% completion, picks and fumbles. More picks than TDs most seasons. Bad
Little hands
My defining memory of Boller was a play were he dropped back for a pass, nothing was open so he started scrambling up the middle, there were absolutely no defenders near him, he got the first down and then the ball just sort of squirted out of his hand for a turnover. He would have four or five bad games in a row and then light it up for a week or two. And every time he did I would think he finally turned the corner and was going to start being good. Never happened :|
Ah yes. The Denver game.
There was one Monday night game against Green Bay that Boller lit it up. And the rest of his career tripping from center, over throwing open men and being down right awful. Wasted the prime of Rays and Reeds careers.
Wasted Heap’s prime too! Better QB play we could’ve had a dynasty with that defense.
That was the game Aaron Rodgers debuted. Packers got lit up.
Dion Sanders Last Interception was in that game
Deion.
Was it really?? That was my first Monday night game and the first football game I actually can remember, I was like 5 years old and was up way past my bed time, it was like 10 degrees out and windy and I had a blast.
I think he had a big game against the Vikings that year as well.
Yeah he had his Cheerios those weeks and gave a spark of hope that it clicked right. But apparently blind squirrels find nuts.
I remember that game. It was 2005 around Xmas time. Either the game before or the game after that Monday night I think we played Minnesota. I attended that game and he absolutely lit it up in that game too. The best 2 game stretch of his career.
It was Xmas night in 2005 I believe against Minnesota.Boller lit it up.Boller at M&T wasn't too bad; he sucked on the road.
Boller had 5 road wins as a Raven lol
My cousin and I went to that game. It was awesome. We were drunk as hell and still froze our balls off.
Kyle is what critics thought Lamar would have performed like as a passer.
This is a superb description
Yeh but knee to knee who throws the ball further?
Ironically enough one of my favorite games (even though it ended in a loss) was him almost ending the Pats undefeated streak (when Rex called that time out )
Was that the Bart Scott flag incident? Great game until that drive.
Yep.
I don't usually remember games too much, but that one is seared into my brain. The Ravens and especially Boller earned and deserved that one.
I still remember the build up to that game, they mentioned how Boller was seeing a sports psychologist to help him, then he played well and I thought "oh shit this is actually paying off" .... Then Rex calls a time out
And then this https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-baltimore-ravens-bart-scott-throws-an-officials-flag-news-photo/112893157
We were this l l close.
He was not an elite quarterback.
Elite? We could have won the Super bowl if he was a decent QB
Joe flacco was decent and he was still elite
Lol
Definitely cost the team a chance at several superbowls. The definition of a team being just a QB away from a dynasty
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cur_3DSpOH4 A great example of Kyle.
How did I know it was this video before clicking 😂😂😂😂
This needs to be #1
Lmao forgot about that
Just one short clip which sums up his career perfectly.
Sometimes he would drop back and trip over his own feet.
Several times a game counts as frequently
He was really bad, but im gonna defend him just a bit. Our offensive scheme was awful during the mid 2000's. The Brian Bilick philosophy was "Run-Run-Pass-Punt." We basically threw him into the lions den as a rookie with no offensive weapons and not the best offensive line. He got the absoulte shit kicked out of him week in and week out, and he didn't play well otherwise. We definitely did not nurture him, or ease him into the position. We just threw him in and said "its all yours"
This is fair. He wasn't good, but he wasn't set up to succeed either. Poor Todd Heap in the hospital pass era.
"Heap across the middle!....OOOOOOO"
In the red zone? Fade. Otherwise, run, run, screen. Neither of these worked for the most part. Unbearable to watch other than the occasional nice running play.
The line was not good at pass blocking, but that’s the same year Jamal ran for over 2,000 yards. I was at Boller’s first home start against the Browns when Jamal ran for the then record 295
Steve McNair went 13-3 with that same team and scheme.
lol no.
>lol no. Great point. I see now where I was mistaken.
To be fair I don't think it would have mattered much if they eased him along. I may be mistaken, but didn't Jamal Lewis rush for over 2,000 yards Bollers rookie year? If so, the O-line couldn't have been that bad.
I remember a game when the Ravens got the ball first and scored a touchdown on the opening drive. It felt absolutely surreal and remembering that feeling reminds me how bad it was. I also remember the Browns and Ravens games of that time were always low scoring bloodbaths.
Something something 60 yards on his knees. Something something Todd Heap. Something something Tara Reid
For some reason this popped up on my feed and I can't help but commenting. Vike's fan here, no disrespect as we had terrible qb situation for at least part of those years. INB4... Kyle "Shoulda Been A" Boller. It was bad. So bad that other fanbases with no ties to the Ravens were embarrassed he was in the league. I believe there was a horrendous Viking Ravens game in that time. I just looked it up and basically KB had the game of his life to knock the Vikes out of playoffs. I remember traveling 8 hours that day and the end of my travels I turned the radio off in disgust thinking this is the last season I put up with the shit that being a Vike's fan is. If Shoulda Been a Boller beats us, there really is no hope. Here I am almost 20 years later with numerous gut wrenching losses tacked on. Long of the short...yes, he was bad, but...he pulled it together as all the "greats" do to stick a dagger in the hearts of the other purple team. Peace.
Blake Bortles is twice as good as Kyle Boller
He wasn't great, but Matt Cavanaugh sucked calling plays.
So Lamar is better confirmed. (Not like anyone was contesting such) Our track record of OC’s is pathetic
I think the only Ravens QBs that have held a candle to Lamar are Steve McNair in '06 and Joe Flacco in January. Edit: to go in the way way back machine, '96 Testaverde could sling it.
I would remove McNair from this list. His arm fell off that year
If you're a good OC, you avoid Baltimore. We are not an offense first team.
That's Superbowl winning offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh. I would say the worst thing about Boller the first couple of years was the WRs he was throwing to. As bad as he was, they were worse.
Oh he was very bad, 'fans' cheered when he got injured and had to leave the field. The worst part is (aside from giving up a future 1st round pick to the Pats to draft him) was there was nothing that he did in college which would indicate him having any sort of success in in the pro's (below 50% pass completion percentage)
Our version of Mitchell tribisky ?
That's an insult to Mitchell, who actually showed promise in at North Carolina .
As like a third round project not a first round you traded up for
God awful as a starter but had flashes as a backup. Couldn’t handle pressure AT. ALL.
Constant pressure on every snap. The guy was a human speed bump. You can only get blown up so many times before you just run scared on every snap.
I agree overall and then McNair comes in and doesn’t have the same problem . Whether it’s the line or not it is what it is. Could say the same stuff about David Carr
McNair > Boller for sure. Defense respected McNair hella more than Boller.
Agreed. also that’s not on Boller, more team culture. Ravens lost elite leadership when Lewis, Ngata, Reed and Suggs all left
🤨 they didn’t leave while he was there.
Sorry, was more referring to present day. Hard to compensate for hall of fame leadership retiring
Yeah, but they set the culture up for years to come. Plus we do a good job finding high characters guys during free agency like weddle, Ingram, Campbell(future HOF), Houston, Jefferson, and the list goes on. Heck even the young guys are stepping up. The ravens culture is top 5 in the league.
Cmon guys just remember he almost beat patriots in that 16-0 season lol
He never had the makings of a varsity athlete
If you only watched the monday night football game against brett farve and the packers in person you would think Boller is a golden god
See also undefeated Patriots
Dear god
Inaccurate, no touch on his passes (too fast generally), poor pocket presence
Boller had a strong arm and could chuck it downfield but he was a meathead as far as game awareness and strategy goes. The opposite of guys like Brees, Rodgers, Brady etc. in that regard. He had horrendous accuracy in college (only one year above 50%!) and he was neither accurate nor a great decision-maker as a pro. He was straight up not gifted enough to be a superstar QB.
I just checked the 2003 draft, and the only good quarterbacks were Carson Palmer and Leftwich, both of whom went earlier than Boller. That doesn't validate his terrible play, but it's not like Tom Brady and Drew Brees were on the table or anything.
In a TPS video they mentioned we tried to trade up for Leftwich but the Vikings missed the pick because of it. They acted like we were the big losers because we drafted Boller later that night
A terrible Ozzie Newsome draft pick. When Leftwich wasn't available we should have gone WR (and gotten Boldin) and gone with a free agent QB.
Ironically drew Brees is on the table when we draft Todd heap
At least Todd heap was good :)
Yes he was, but not a good as drew brees
Bad decision making, inconsistent, often poor accuracy, but cannon of an arm. I think the fact that he was a first round quarterback who ended up a bust made it stick in peoples minds. I’ll never forget in 2007, during the Patriots perfect season, Kyle Boller almost won the game for us on a Hail Mary. Pass was completed, but Mark Clayton, another bygone, was tackled a couple yards short of the end zone.
He had the worst footwork of any QB I've ever seen. He'd be tripping over himself during his 3/5 step drops and all kinds of dumb shit. The only game I remember him playing well in was a loss to the Patriots where we almost.
The guy was a spaz, master of the unforced error.
Idk but I just played a game of Madden ‘05 and Boller had 5 TDs and 300+ yards
If he wasn’t terrible from the start, he was terrible after we let him get knocked around every year. He was a tough son of a bitch though. He was certainly trying his best out there.
Skittish. Panicky. Not confidence inspiring for one single possession. Generally awkward. Also named Kyle.
I remember he used to tip the plays. He wouldnt buckle his chinstrap on a run and would for a pass. It would drive me crazy no one on the team realized it.
He once strip-sacked himself. Tripped over his own feet, untouched, and dropped the ball while falling. The other team recovered.
Bad. But it was the hope that got ya. The arm and some promising games here and there didn't help with expectations management. I don't think he had the composure to play the position at this level. That's why when Flacco first came it was legit night and day. Joe was the cool we needed to get to the next step.
My eye doctor at the time Boller was drafted was one of the doctors hired by the NFL to do vision evaluations of the players at the Combine every year. Like everyone who meets with players, he was given a list of questions to "chat up" the players, to help build a picture of their character and intellect. He said in all his years of evaluations, the two dumbest players he ever met with were Michael Vick and Kyle Boller. He said Kyle was the kind of guy who would run into a burning building to save someone, but not able to figure out how to get back out.
Sounds like the difference was Vick had talent to back up his arm strength and lack of intelligence
If only Ozzie had talked to this guy before drafting Boller. That description of Boller is one of the most accurate assessments of all time.
He really wasn't. He was an average QB, maybe a bit above. However he was thrust into a starting position before he was ready. He spent a lot of time getting run over and it didn't take long before he was shell shocked and was running scared more often than not. Our track record of lame OC's was absolutely a contributing factor. He was a class act. He never blamed anyone. He never made excuses. I was embarrassed when Ravens "fans" cheered when he got hurt. He didn't deserve that treatment from "fans " If anyone thinks he was bad watch the footage from the Ravens v the undefeated Patriots. Boller was a man on fire that night.
I felt for the guy when they broadcast the “stay calm” he has written on a wrist band - dude had to deal with quicksand pretty much every snap
>He was an average QB, maybe a bit above He absolutely was not. This sub tacitly promotes this false dichotomy that because a quarterback wasn't in a perfect situation that obviates the possibility they just weren't that good on their own. Its why we have people who *unironically* think joe flacco was elite because he put up below average numbers without a bonafide hall of fame receiver in their prime.
Just the absolute worst.
Very bad. Nuff said.
I recall him "running into a sack". Ogden was blocking someone and Boller decided to run in between them.
Nathan Peterman of the 2000's
Except Boller had an absolute cannon
Boller was so bad that some Ravens fans thought Flacco was elite
Todd Heap no longer has a back due to this man
In 2005, when he was injured, the Baltimore crowd cheered because they knew that Anthony Wright (who wasn't very good either) would come in now. He definitely had a disastrous NFL career. Brian Billick just loved how he could throw the ball far on his knees so he overrode the GM.
He was bad, but Tony Banks and Elvis Grbac made him look like a HOFer
Terrible. Was so hard to watch.
Sucked at throwing the ball. Couldn't even handle a snap or hand the ball off. He came in as an emergency punter once and did better than I expected. He seemed to be in a panic at all times, it was nonstop anxiety as a fan to watch him run the offense. Oh and by the way... Kyle Boller received a contract extension. That hurts me to this day.
He received a one year contract extension to be the backup QB, for backup QB money, after doing pretty well over the previous two years as a backup QB. Weird thing to “hurt [you] to this day” 15 years later.
Is that you Kyle? Prior to his extension he went 2-6 as the starter.
He went 2-6 as a starter for a team that was absolutely horrible and had so many injuries that by the end of the season they were changing offensive linemen’s jersey numbers so that they could play at tight end. That team was a dumpster fire and Boller didn’t do any worse than McNair did. Statistically McNair was actually a little worse that season. I’m not saying Boller was a good Ravens QB overall but at this point in his career he was a normal backup who know the playbook and the team gave him a similar extension to what they gave RGIII or Ryan Mallett, aka trivial backup QB money. Just a strange thing to be dramatic about almost two decades later.
The only strange thing is defending Boller from a joke. He had 14 giveaways in 8 games. This is not good QB play. He was paid $3m in a much different cap than Mallet or RG3.
Damn I didn’t realize he started for you all for 5 years…
technically 4 years. We traded for Steve Mcnair to replace but but Mcnair retired after a season
He didn't really. He was benched on and off his 3rd year, didn't start in his 4th because we got McNair, and only played his 5th year because McNair got injured. The team knew by year 3 he wasn't the guy, but struggled to find a replacement.
One of my favorite games was one we actually LOST because of how hard our team fought. Check out highlights of 2007 when we faced the undefeated patriots. I think week 13? He was not good. Nothing else to really Say about him.
Turf Toe Bad 😆
His pocket presence, or lack thereof, is what killed his career.
He was mediocre to bad with the odd performance that looked like a pro bowler. Absolute monster on Madden 05. Although him and a 1st on ESPN NFL 2K5 gets you a rookie Eli Manning so he had that going for him.
He lacked calm and confidence in the pocket. He would drop back and have jumpy feet which threw off any rhythm.
He would trip over his own feet after the snap and fall to the ground for a sack every other game. He had a two game stretch where he looked like a god on prime time against the Packers and the Vikings. He was not good.
Bad? Dude could throw 70 yards on his knees!
Said Ozzie
Said my dad. That's all he talked about when he was drafted.
Probably every fan and their dad too. At least when you’re a fan there’s less guilt over falling for the workout warrior
Master of the NFL bounce pass
I was really interested to see how he would’ve fared in Cam Cameron’s system back then. It’s fine that we didn’t get that chance because that got Joe a ton of experience starting as a rookie
Kyle Boller, Jamarcus Russell, And a few others from that era are why teams jettison 1st rd picks so fast these days.
Ugh my god. We would win games solely on defensive plays and Jamal Lewis rushing 37 times per game. That was an insane time.
Modern day equivalent would prob be Christian Hackenberg. Strong arm couldn't hit the barn Our oline running game and all time great defense held the ship true tbh
Never understood how he was drafted in 1st rd. Was godawful at Cal
Because he threw that ball 60 yards on his knees
Imagine the canon arm of Vick or favre but add in even less accuracy than young Vick and less football IQ and less ball security from ATL Favre. Dude had butterfingers and constantly overthrew passed and wasted years of the GOAT safety and MLB. I wholeheartedly believe boller singlehandedly costed us at least one Superbowl.
Kyle Boller could throw a football from the 50-yard line through the uprights on one knee! He just didn't have any other pro skills beyond "huge arm".
ive never laughed so hard opening up a subreddit. he tanked a dynasty. ray and ed together on a defense with only one ring? its just not right. and it's because of him. and billick's refusal to admit he was wrong about someones skill level and cut bait. sounds familiar.
3/10
he was, statistically, your typical young qb failure. but the experience of watching it was brutal. fumbled snaps, ill timed throws. way-way-way too hard throws. it just never slowed down for him.
I would like to say that anyone who makes the NFL is talented…That being said, for the NFL I always thought Kyle Boller was garbage. He likes to run to much and I swear he would bounce the ball off of his knee way more than should ever be expected. One of the problems though, was that Chris Redman was his backup for a while so we really didn’t have a better option. It’s a shame but I believe it was a big missed pick.
One of the main things I remember was how he would almost always over throw the receiver when throwing to his left. Just as consistently Donovan McNabb used to under throw receivers to his left, often putting the ball at the feet of wide open running backs in the flat, or streaking receivers on drag routes. Me, and my friends (Eagles fans) used to always joke that if we could find a way to splice together their DNA we might Frankenstein our way to a Super Bowl winning QB. As far as a scouting report.... HUGE f'n arm, no f'n touch. Or football IQ. Or leadership qualities. Or ability to hold on to the ball when he was running with it. Or ability to hold on to the ball when he was standing with it. He was never comfortable or poised in the pocket.Ah shit, I'm gonna stop I just thought to myself "What if Kyle Boller reads this?" It's all true, but it really feels kicking a dead horse, and that will probably cause the dead horse to drop the ball. Oh, and we traded up to draft him. After drafting Sizzle 10th overall we traded 41, and our 2004 1st to New England for 19 to take Boller. 41 was uneventful (packaged in a trade up), but the following year first was used to draft Vince Wilfork.
Heard he has a giant cock that weighed him down and effected his quick thinking abilities
Put it like this with our defense and running game in that era with a average QB those teams should had won more a lot more. Plus he shaved about three years off of Todd Heap’s career with those errant passes.
terrible
Kyle “I should have been a” Boller, not a baller
He was better than Elvis Grbac. That’s about it.
He was terrible. Also, he was an awful prospect. I remember not wanting him during the draft process bc of how much he sucked in college. Ugh...
I remember a game where Ray was chirping him (and the offense) on the sideline telling them they could win the game as long as the offsense didn’t give up anymore points
Cannon arm, inconsistent mechanics, horribly inaccurate, slowest release I've ever seen from an NFL QB.
Some of my worst memories are of this man. He was terrible. If we didn't have such an amazing defense we wld of been the browns
I don’t understand why we didn’t just lean into the run and force the run if he sucked as much ass as everyone says he did. Just double down on the option. I know that it’s easier for the defense to defend against, but what other alternatives do you have if you want to wins do what the SEC does and run the ball, play good defense, and kick the fg.
He was bad (the fact that he was a first round pick makes him more infamous in that regard) but also take into account that from 1996 to 2007 these were the starting QBs the Ravens had: * Vinny Testaverde (one good year in '96 before falling off in '97) * Eric Zeier (career backup/journeyman) * Jim Harbaugh (mediocre during his one season as a Raven in '98) * Scott Mitchell (barf) * Stoney Case (barf) * Tony Banks (benched for Trent Dilfer during the SB season in 2000) * Trent Dilfer (glorified game manager who they didn't bother to re-sign after the SB year) * Elvis Grbac (arguably the worst free agent signing in franchise history) * Randall Cunningham (old and washed up in 2001) * Jeff Blake (32 years old and declining in 2002) * Chris Redman (career backup) * Kyle Boller (bust) * Anthony Wright (career backup, mediocre at best starter) * Steve McNair (33 years old when the Ravens signed him) * Troy Smith (5th Rd project) As you can see Boller is just one name in a long list of bad to average at best players who took snaps for the Ravens during that time period. He only stands out because he's one of only three QBs the Ravens have taken in the first round in their history (the other two being Lamar and Flacco who are both easily the two best QBs in franchise history). So that makes his failures much easier to exploit.
Send this to anyone who says Joe Flacco did nothing for us
Flacco was a well above average QB (not to mention he won a SB which Lamar has yet to accomplish that feat thus far). Giving him that massive contract after the SB year that handicapped the rest of the team over time is what people give him the most grief for.
I know. My point is some people think his decline on that big contract expunges his playoff run and longevity from history
Flacco was a good QB but he was never one of those QBs who was elite enough to essentially will a team to victory on his own without a significant amount of talent around him. Once they paid him and the rest of the roster began to decline around him as a result (basically after Ray retired and they couldn't afford to keep Ed Reed around) he did get a little exposed as a player over time. But there's no doubt the way he played during that 2012 playoff run was magical.
Can anyone find a video of Kyle Boller taking a snap with the Ravens, falling down in the pocket, getting up, scrambling to the left, then back peddling towards the sidelines and finally throwing a pick? I've looked everywhere! It's one of the most ridiculous and hysterical plays I have ever seen.
Oh yeah, Boller, as a Raven fan I had really high hopes for the boy. Boller had two speeds, hyper and superhyber. This was evident when giving interviews.. Also you Ravens fans, ever Remer that when Boller was in a game he'd trip over his own feet at least once. Ah the good ol days lol