Baltimore Ravens Fantasy Outlook: Are OBJ & Zay Flowers the Weapons Lamar Jackson Needed?
The Ravens dealt with injuries to key offensive players a year ago. All those players are back and healthy this season, and they also made improvements to the offense via free agency and the draft.
QB Lamar Jackson
He can be a top 3 QB in fantasy. That is mostly due to his running ability, not his throwing ability, but there are a couple of reasons to be optimistic about Jackson this season. The first is that Jackson has the best group of WRs that he has ever played with in his NFL career. The Ravens have seemingly lacked in that position for years and have had to rely on their ground game, including Jackson. That brings me to my next point on Jackson. He hasn’t been able to stay healthy over the past couple of seasons, and a lot of that has to do with him running with the football too much. He has said that he plans on throwing the football a lot more in 2023, which some people look at as a negative because it hurts his upside in fantasy, however, I see it as a positive because he can stay healthy and produce for you every week.
QB Tyler Huntley
He shouldn’t be drafted unless you are playing in dynasty leagues. Where Huntley becomes relevant is if Jackson’s recent injury history continues to sideline him in 2023. Huntley will have value at some point this season if Jackson misses any time.
RB J.K. Dobbins
Can he stay healthy? That has to be the big question surrounding Dobbins heading into the 2023 season. Despite not being featured much in the passing game, Dobbins has been excellent as a runner throughout his NFL career. He hasn’t shown the ability to handle an RB1 workload, which is what is keeping him from being an RB1 in fantasy. Look to draft him in round 5 of your drafts and hope that with Lamar possibly running less, Dobbins could get to run more. Keep in mind that he may go earlier in drafts that aren’t PPR scoring.
RB Gus Edwards and RB Justice Hill
If you draft Dobbins, you are going to want to draft his handcuff. The obvious choice is Gus Edwards who can be had in the double-digit rounds of your drafts He is a strong runner, however, he hasn’t scored many TDs which hurts his overall value considering he doesn’t get enough touches typically to rack up the fantasy points you need. Like Dobbins, Edwards doesn’t offer much in the passing game either, which limits his value as well. He will need an injury to Dobbins to be trustworthy in the flex spots. The one positive for Edwards is that his only other competition is Justice Hill who hasn’t proven anything in the NFL other than the fact that he fumbles too much. Hill has no value unless both Edwards and Dobbins are hurt at the same time.
WR Odell Beckham
Although he is over 30 years old now, OBJ is still considered to be uber-talented. Injuries have set him back over the years, but he does bring a veteran presence to a team that has lacked WR depth and skill in recent years. He is going to be used cautiously early on this season and as fantasy managers, you should be cautious with him too. His talent can only take him so far if he can’t remain healthy.
WR Rashod Bateman
It was unfortunate for Bateman, the Ravens and those who rostered Bateman in fantasy last season when he broke his foot and didn’t play again in 2022. He has elite speed, is a great deep threat and averaged close to 20 yards per catch last season before getting hurt. The issue with Bateman has been his inconsistency, which comes from him not seeing much volume, but also him not being a prototypical WR1 in an offense. There are also more mouths to feed at the WR position this season in Baltimore, so we don’t know what Bateman’s role will be from game to game.
WR Zay Flowers
Flowers is a rookie, and it may take him a few weeks to settle into the speed of the NFL game, but he could end up being the top WR in fantasy for the Ravens. He has exceptional speed and it will help him to create enough separation in the NFL which will make up for his lack of size. I wouldn’t take Flowers before round 9 in re-draft leagues, but he won’t be there in the double-digit rounds either. Of the three main WR in this offense, Flowers is the guy I want to draft.
WR Nelson Agholor and Devin Duvernay
Agholor is interesting to me. He is listed as the number 4 WR on this depth chart but is probably the most reliable of any WR on the Ravens roster. OBJ is injury-prone, Bateman has always been inconsistent and Flowers is a rookie. If given the volume, Agholor could be a nice producer for your rosters, but unless injuries strike, he isn’t likely going to see enough volume. As of now, he should go un-drafted because there are too many options in this offense. Duvernay showed promise early on in 2022 but then he faded fast. He has a lot of competition for targets in the passing game and at this point, is not fantasy relevant because he may not even see 20% of the snaps when this roster is fully healthy.
TE Mark Andrews
If it weren’t for Travis Kelce, Andrews would be the best TE in fantasy football. Whether he leads the Ravens in targets or not doesn’t matter, because Andrews is incredibly efficient with the targets he does get and Lamar Jackson trusts him more than any other pass catcher on this roster. There is a good chance that Andrews does lead this team in targets though, so in your PPR leagues especially, taking Andrews in the 3rd round of 1 QB leagues has many more positives than it does negatives.
TE Isaiah Likely
He is not going to cut into Andrews’ targets necessarily, even though they play the same position and could both be featured regularly. Andrews’ role is secure, while Likely’s role isn’t. Likely is not known as a blocking TE, so when he is on the field, you can expect him to be running routes, and acting more like a WR than a TE. If Andrews were to miss any time this season, Likely would immediately become a TE1, but until that happens, he should either be taken in the last couple of rounds or not drafted at all.
K Justin Tucker
Tucker is one of the best kickers in the history of the NFL. If there was one kicker who you might reach for a round earlier than expected, it would be him. He is incredibly consistent, can hit from long range and rarely misses a FG or XP. He will always be one of the top kickers in fantasy as long as he is healthy.
Ravens DST
The Ravens usually have a solid fantasy defense. They can be a top 10-12 defense overall, but you are going to want to pick your spots. I wouldn’t play them against teams like Buffalo, Kansas City, Cincinnati or any other top 10-12 offense, however, they have some nice matchups early on this season against the Texans and Colts, and the Ravens should be considered a top-five defense in those matchups.
