The NFL regular season is just around the corner with a full Week 1 slate set for Sunday. The Baltimore Ravens are in action against the Indianapolis Colts, setting up the first showing for Lamar Jackson and the offense under a new head coach and coordinator.
A name who’s seen significant hype this offseason is none other than Zay Flowers, who appears poised for a career-best season in an overhauled system after receiving a lucrative contract extension last month. However, an undisclosed injury kept him out for multiple weeks of practice, causing a bit of concern from fantasy managers. With the first game fast approaching, should we be worried about Flowers’ outlook in fantasy moving forward?
Zay Flowers fantasy outlook
It’s understandable that some people may feel worried about Flowers’ outlook, given the weirdness of the last couple weeks. The fourth-year wideout was sidelined for quite some time following a mysterious injury suffered on August 20 during a joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings. The Ravens themselves weren’t particularly clear about the ailment, describing it as a “minor health issue” on the team website.
The specifics of Flowers’ injury aren’t known, but we do know that he returned to practice last week on September 3. Head coach Jesse Minter said that the team was looking out for his Week 1 health, so perhaps they’ve simply erred on the side of caution after signing the soon-to-be 26-year-old to a huge four-year, $140 million extension back at the start of August. Given the investment, such an approach wouldn’t be shocking whatsoever, especially with the start of a long regular season on deck.
So, should fantasy managers feel some type of worry about the status of the Ravens’ top wideout moving forward?
On a scale of 1-10, the concern meter probably lands at about 1-2. There are far more reasons for optimism than the other way around.
Flowers has solidified his place as one of the NFL’s ascending players at his position. He’s improved his yardage total in all three seasons of his professional career, scaling from 858 as a rookie to 1,059 before his 1,211 receiving yards last year. Despite his small stature at only 5-foot-9, he ranked 11th in the league with 86 receptions last season and seventh in receiving yards. He’s a versatile route-runner who can work in the slot but also stretch the field, with the lone knock on his game a lack of high-end touchdown production – he has no more than five in any of this three campaigns.
Even that may change moving forward. Baltimore has consistently ranked near the bottom of the league in total passing volume over the last few years, but from the sound of things, new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle plans to deploy a more balanced attack that puts Lamar Jackson in position to use his arm more than in the past. Even a modest uptick in pass rate could lead to a significant boost in volume for the pass catchers, of whom Flowers remains a clear primary option.
Flowers’ 28.99% target share ranked 11th among all NFL wideouts last season, far ahead of the team’s second-highest finisher in target share – tight end Mark Andrews at 17.20%. The franchise drafted Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt in the third and fourth round back in April, but neither poses a real threat to usurping Jackson’s top weapon.
As such, there’s little reason to worry about Flowers moving forward, even after the injury scare. He had plenty of time off to heal up and got back to practice last week, meaning he’s had over a full week of full practices leading up to Sunday’s opener against the Colts. Draft him and start him with confidence.
