Ravens won't rush Flacco, but won't hold him back, either

After one minicamp, the Baltimore Ravens know what they have in quarterback Joe Flacco, and it's all good. They like his temperament. They like his command of the huddle. And they love his arm.

What they don't know is how soon the guy starts, and that's what this summer is all about.

Joe Flacco makes a nice first impression at minicamp. (AP)

Look, Flacco wasn't drafted to sit on the bench behind Troy Smith and Kyle Boller, even though that may be what happens in Week 1. Heck, it could be what happens by midseason, too, because coach John Harbaugh has no fixed plan for putting his first draft choice in the lineup.

Once I thought that was unimaginable. Remember, Harbaugh broke into the pros with Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia, and, like Harbaugh, Reid's first draft pick was a quarterback. That was Donovan McNabb, the second choice in the 1999 draft, and Reid kept him buried on the depth chart until the second half of the season.

It's a familiar script followed by others, including the New York Giants with Eli Manning, and I thought it would be what happened here. But everything is flexible in Baltimore, where Flacco, Boller and Smith go into training camp competing for a wide-open job.

Now, let's be honest here: Boller and Smith have the edge because of their experience. In fact, if I were to guess now I'd say one of them winds up starting the season opener, with Flacco third on the depth chart.

But I don't know that, and I don't know that because John Harbaugh doesn't know that. He could follow the Reid blueprint that worked so well with McNabb, but he won't.

"We're not taking that approach," he said. "Circumstances probably will dictate what you try to do. I'm kind of an Adam Smith kind of guy. You know, the invisible hand of God? We're going to have everyone go out there, and let it shake itself out."

Of course, we all know Flacco will prevail in the end, but that's not the concern here. It's how quickly he develops and how soon the Ravens feel comfortable starting him, and both could take awhile.

And that's OK because if there's one thing you should know about Harbaugh, it's that he will have patience with Flacco. He doesn't believe in starting someone just because the he's a first-round draft choice, the season is lost or fans demand a change.

If Joe Flacco isn't ready, he sits. Simple as that.

"Too many guys failed because they were pushed to start before they were ready," said Harbaugh.

Amen. So the Ravens will be careful with Flacco and not allow what happened to Boller to happen to him. Boller was the 19th pick of the 2003 draft and, frankly, was pushed to start before he was ready.