Maclin has enjoyed a respectable eight-year career, but he's a long way from matching the kind of receivers Flacco has played with in Baltimore.
Anquan Boldin helped the
Ravens win a
Super Bowl and has 1,076 career receptions. Derrick Mason was in Baltimore when Flacco first entered the NFL, and Mason caught 943 passes during his 15-year career (including 471 with the Ravens). Let's also not forget
Steve Smith Sr., who now works for NFL Media. He owns 1,031 career receptions of his own.
You can argue that all these players were older than the 29-year-old Maclin when they teamed up with Flacco. What you can't debate is whether Maclin -- who has enjoyed just two 1,000-yard seasons in his career -- is in their class at this point.
It's not Maclin; it's
Steve Smith Sr. He had tenacity and passion, and he changed team culture in the locker room. He brought more than just numbers (though his numbers weren't too bad, either). Smith had eight 1,000-yard seasons and played for one-and-a-half decades. He was able to go across the middle, was an explosive route runner and could turn a hitch into an 85-yard touchdown. He was phenomenal.
No. Maclin might be the
Ravens' new No. 1 receiver, but he's definitely not the best receiver who's ever played with
Joe Flacco. No disrespect to the veteran pass catcher or his list of accomplishments to this point, but he's just not on the same level as
Steve Smith Sr.,
Anquan Boldin or even
Torrey Smith during their prime years in Baltimore. While he will certainly make a number of plays in the
Ravens' version of the West Coast offense, he is not someone who'll force opposing defensive coordinators to create special game plans or defenses in order to slow him down. That doesn't mean he won't be a major factor for the
Ravens' offense, but he isn't a game changer to the level of the aforementioned trio (
Steve Smith as a WR1; Boldin as a red-zone weapon/third-down specialist;
Torrey Smith as a vertical playmaker).
I applaud the
Ravens for making the move to acquire Maclin, but let's keep his potential impact on the team in perspective.
I'm not looking at just one or two good seasons -- like Maclin has enjoyed. I'm looking at an entire body of work, so I have to go with
Steve Smith Sr. From the time Smith entered the league in 2001, he brought attitude, no fear and the ability to consistently make big plays. He was an exceptional route runner, always put up an aggressive fight for the ball and stepped up when needed. This is the kind of player who really impacts an offense for a long time. I don't know if Maclin will have that long-term impact.
Joe Flacco has never had an elite wide receiver. And at this point, it looks like he'll have to keep waiting, as
Jeremy Maclin is a solid No. 2.; he's not a top-speed guy, or the kind of receiver who changes coverages, like
DeSean Jackson. Even a late-career
Steve Smith was probably more imposing than Maclin. Consider that before Smith, at age 36,
tore his Achilles
in Week 8 of the 2015 season, he was on pace for 98 catches and 1,436 receiving yards, higher than Maclin's career peaks in either category (87 catches in 2015, 1,318 yards in 2014).
No, I don't think
Jeremy Maclin will be the best receiver
Joe Flacco's ever thrown to. Forget the fact that he'd slot behind
Anquan Boldin and
Steve Smith in the historical hierarchy -- Maclin won't even be the best receiver on the
Ravens
this season.
As I wrote last week, I have great faith that youngster
Breshad Perriman will finally have his breakout year. Maclin, meanwhile, is coming off the worst season of his career, and he's no longer the player he was when he first arrived in Kansas City. Once older players begin to have trouble generating big plays, they usually don't get any better. Notably, the 29-year-old Maclin produced just six receptions of 20-plus yards in 2016, and one of 40-plus yards.
No disrespect to Maclin, but if he's your pick for Flacco's best, you're trippin'. When the
Ravens went on their
Super Bowl run in 2012 -- and Flacco had an 11:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the playoffs --
Anquan Boldin was his top target. The receiver hauled in 22 catches for 380 yards (17.3 yards per catch) and four TDs during that postseason. The man can do it all, and he was tough as hell to cover.
I'm going to say the best pass catcher
Joe Flacco's played with is
Dennis Pitta, and it's too bad
he's had those hip injuries, because he was a perennial Pro Bowl-type player. He had a great relationship with Flacco and was fantastic in the
Ravens' offense.
If we're talking about somebody out wide, though, I'm going to say
Torrey Smith. A lot of folks complained about Smith's consistency, but he was a great fit in the offense and allowed Flacco to show off that big arm.
Not even close. As much as I like
Jeremy Maclin,
Anquan Boldin was money for the
Ravens team that won the
Super Bowl a few years ago. He is already
in the top 10 in career receptions, while being one of the most prolific postseason wide receivers in NFL history. Because of the huge numbers wideouts post in this era, many fans have already forgotten about players like Derrick Mason, who was fantastic in Baltimore.
Torrey Smith wasn't bad, either.
