(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Baltimore Ravens all-time passing leader: Kyle Boller—7,846 yards.

Baltimore Ravens current quarterback: Joe Flacco—2,971 yards.

It took Boller five seasons and 53 games to reach his pass total, although he threw for 2,559 yards in his only full season in 2004.

In one season, Joe Flacco surpassed all expectations to move up the depth chart, and become the leader of the defensive juggernaut Ravens.

This year, a more comfortable Flacco looks to increase his yardage total from last season and lead the Ravens to the postseason once again.

Although the Ravens receiving corps is not the most talented in the league, they have three talented running backs that can catch the ball in Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, and Le'Ron McClain, and not necessarily in that order.

In the Ravens first preseason game Thursday, Flacco went 9-of-15 for 103 yards, playing the entire first quarter and some of the second. He ran the offense efficiently, hitting Mason a few times, and exploiting the young talent at receiver. He also used the talented running backs, leading them to two field goals in his limited playing time.

Flacco's rookie yardage total was good enough to tie for the franchise's fourth highest with Vinny Testaverde in '96, Steve Mcnair in '06, and Elvis Grbac in '01, respectively.

Number two on the Ravens all-time passing yardage list, Testaverde, only played two seasons with the birds. He threw for 7,148 yards in his two seasons, making the Pro-Bowl in '96, almost eclipsing Boller's two-year total, but he left for the Jets after the 1997 season. 

At Flacco's current pace, he will surely become Baltimore's career-leading passer in 2010, in only his 3rd season, barring a trade or an injury that keeps him out of significant playing time.

The Ravens finally have that franchise quarterback that they have always been looking for under head coach John Harbaugh.

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