Fantasy fallout: Impact of Mark Andrews season-ending ankle injury

The Baltimore Ravens picked up the 34-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals to kick off Week 11. The win came at a cost, though, as tight end Mark Andrews suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter. He was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game, and head coach John Harbaugh said in his post-game press conference that the injury is expected to sideline Andrews for the remainder of the season.

Let’s take a look at how this injury to one of the league’s best tight ends affects the outlook for Baltimore’s fantasy-relevant players for the rest of the season.

How Andrews’ injury affects Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers, Isaiah Likely, Odell Beckham Jr.

Lamar Jackson

Jackson is known for his scrambling ability, but that just causes people to overlook his passing ability. Admittedly, he does have 12 passing touchdowns this season, and six of them have gone to Andrews. This injury feels like it will cap Jackson’s upside for the rest of the season, but he still has a high floor.

Jackson finished Thursday night’s matchup against Cincinnati 16-of-26 for 262 yards with two touchdowns. He had 23.96 fantasy points in standard leagues, which will likely put him above the average at the position this week.

Zay Flowers

Flowers figures to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Andrews’ injury. He had the second-most targets on Thursday night and finished with 43 receiving yards. Flowers had a long touchdown called back due to a penalty, which would’ve drastically improved his fantasy football results. It feels like Baltimore will still be run-heavy, but Flowers should see more targets.

Isaiah Likely

Likely is expected to take over as the team’s starting tight end. The only other active tight end is Charlie Kolar, who hasn’t ever really been used. In the last four games that Andrews has missed, Likely has totaled 10 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown. Notably, he was only targeted once Thursday night, but he played the third-most offensive snaps for pass-catchers and ran the second-most routes. Likely will be a top waiver wire add next week and projects well for the remainder of the season.

Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham Jr. suffered a shoulder injury at the end of the game, but it isn’t considered serious. With Andrews missing the majority of the game, OBJ led the team in targets with seven. He brought in four of them for 116 yards, his first 100-yard game since 2021. Flowers and Likely are certainly the top pass-catchers moving forward, but Beckham isn’t the worst dart throw in deeper leagues when facing a favorable matchup.