Undrafted Rookie QB Joe Fagnano Is A Keeper For Ravens, On Practice Squad Or 53-Man Roster

When the Ravens signed undrafted quarterbacks Diego Pavia and Joe Fagnano as camp arms this offseason, there was a real chance one, or neither, would make it to training camp.

Only one of the did, and it was not the Heisman Trophy hopeful. Had Fagnano – from UCONN by way of Maine – never seen action in anything but a few series of the first preseason game, that wouldn’t have been a surprise, either. And he had not leaped forward, when veteran backup Skylar Thompson was suddenly placed on Injured Reserve just before that first game, there’s a very good chance the Ravens would have signed other passers.

But Fagnano has just kept performing at an astoundingly consistent and efficient level and he hasn’t been shaken by or overwhelmed by anything that’s come his way and he capped a shockingly long run of play across three exhibition games with another stellar outing Friday, leading a 41-3 football evisceration of Washington at M&T Bank Stadium. He’s gone from total unknown and “the other guy they signed besides Pavia” to now the center of a little bit of hyperbole about just how coveted he might be if/when the Ravens cut him to try to stash him on the practice squad.

It’s heady stuff, indeed, but not for this unflappable 25-year-old who has displayed an uncanny knack for rising to challenges and shattering expectations. I suspect he is safe on their practice squad and wouldn’t he getting signed to anyone’s active roster, and being in this offense with these coaches and these teammates has helped Fagnano shine in ways that had to surprise even him.

“It started with that first preseason game where he got that first real run … and to his credit he’s put it on tape,” rookie head coach Jesse Minter said. “He’s put it out there. He’s been really consistent. He’s played a certain way almost all three games, and that definitely something we’ll have to take a look at.”

Fagnano said: “My goal coming in was just to make the most of my opportunities. What I can control is what I wanted to control; the stuff that’s out of my hands is out my hands. I think I’ve done a nice job to put myself in a good position. I can put my head on the pillow tonight knowing that I gave it all that I had.”

A Summer To Remember

Fagnano played so well the Ravens didn’t even need to see him do anything else in the fourth quarter of the last two games to know he was a keeper. Case closed. (Not so much to keep three QBs on the 53, but the practice squad).

He threaded a 21-yard touchdown pass to LaJohntay Wester and he ran for a touchdown on a keeper. There were a few lay-up type throws he missed early – which honestly came as a surprise, in a testament to just how great he was in the first two outings – and then he settled into the flow.

Nothing ever rattled him, he avoided sacks and handled pressure behind a makes-shift offensive line, dropping back 79 times and sacked just once. He allowed his young skill position teammates to flourish – priority one from QB 3 - and even when he threw a pass that could have been picked off – and there was one around the endzone Friday – he immediately shook it off.

“Just the consistency,” the quarterback said about what he thought he did well.

He immediately took to the under-center offense that rookie coordinator Declan Doyle is installing, flashing strong balance and footwork on bootlegs and misdirection throws. He was 19/27 for 162 yards and a touchdown Friday, and 56/75 (75%) for 509 yards and three touchdowns and one pick in the preseason. Under center, play action passes he was 18/24 for 187 yards. Pretty impressive.

The opportunity to be in an NFL facility all summer and practice alongside two-time MVP Lamar Jackson is not something he took lightly. And Fagnano has clearly ingratiated himself well into a quarterback room the Ravens need him to stay a part of with depth and developmental options at this position so important.

“He’s a special player, a special human being,” Fagnano said of Jackson. “He’s helped me out a ton. He’s been very supportive … It’s something I’m very appreciative of and I’m trying to be a sponge and take it all in.”

So far, so damn good.

(Okay, I'm just going to say it - he looks a little like Joe Flacco and has some Flacco mannerisms and he definitely sounds like Flacco and says things Flacco would say. He's not anywhere near as strapping as Flacco and isn't nearly the same type of prospect, and doesn't have that kind of arm, but, like, they do have the same first name and last initial and they have the same agent, Joe Linta).

Once again, Friday night, Fagnano kept everyone involved in the offense, hitting eight pass catchers, across all position groups. He was calm in the redzone and content to check it down in the middle of the field when necessary. This was anything but bombs away in any of these games, it wasn’t a ton of explosives, but that’s also to be expected with these pieces all so new.

It was more than enough of a foundation for a potential professional career. Fagnano did nothing to dispel any initial evaluations in the preseason opener that he might have back-up QB potential. And if he somehow did end up somewhere else amid the flurry of roster cutdowns to come this weekend, it would constitute a blow to the organization.

“Coming into this situation,” Fagnano said, “I knew what it was … How the reps get distributed. So I knew coming in, it was going to be an uphill slope. Just taking those reps behind in the walk through, just getting as many mental reps, staying locked in, knowing if my opportunity came, I was going to make the most of it.”

That he did.

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