The Baltimore Ravens have signed a quarterback to provide some depth to their quarterback room while Joe Flacco deals with a back injury. Ian Rapoport is reporting the team signed David Olson, formerly of the Champions Indoor Football League, and Stanford University.
Olson played for John Harbaugh’s brother Jim while at Stanford. Rapoport is reporting that Jim gave John a good scouting report on Olson. Of course, Olson did not actually attempt a pass while playing for Harbaugh. As Steve Berman pointed out, Olson completed one pass in three attempts while at Clemson University.
Flacco suffered a back injury while working out before training camp. He is expected to miss a week, but questions remain how long beyond that. If I wanted to give Baltimore the benefit of the doubt, I would presume that they don’t expect Flacco to miss more than a few practices, so they only need a camp arm.
There is zero reason to sign Olson over Kaepernick if you expect Flacco to miss more than a few practices. And even if he is not going to miss much time, a back injury is tricky, particularly for older players. Is Baltimore seriously comfortable rolling out Ryan Mallett if Flacco’s injury costs him more time, or he recovers and suffers an aggravation later this season?