Shortly before training camp, the Baltimore Ravens answered one of their biggest questions, locking up two-time Pro Bowl wideout Zay Flowers on a four-year, $140 million contract extension and ensuring that two-time MVP Lamar Jackson continues to have his top target to throw to (assuming Jackson re-signs after his contract ends in 2027).
That plan has already hit a snag. Flowers and Jackson have both been expectedly brilliant this season, with each player well on his way to another accolade, but Jackson sustained an ankle sprain late in the first half of the Ravens’ Week 4 win over the Tennessee Titans and sat out the second half. His status is up in the air for Sunday’s Week 5 game against the Atlanta Falcons, per The Athletic‘s Jeff Zrebiec.
With Jackson, Flowers (the WR9 this season despite missing Week 2 with an injury) would be a no-brainer must-start, but if Tyler Huntley starts at quarterback instead, the prospect of benching him at least warrants consideration.
Results and Usage
Flowers became Baltimore’s first Pro Bowl wide receiver in franchise history in 2024, amassing 1,059 yards and four touchdowns, and he bettered himself in 2025 (86 catches, 1,211 yards, and five scores). This season, he’s taken yet another leap; with 18 catches from 22 targets for 352 yards and two scores, he’s on pace for career highs in yards, yards per reception, touchdowns, success rate, and catch rate. He’s caught 16 passes from Jackson and two from Huntley, and on those throws, the Ravens’ quarterbacks have posted a 149.1 passer rating, the fifth-best mark in the league among receivers with at least eight targets. Jackson was already the most efficient quarterback in NFL history, but Declan Doyle’s offense has made him even better.
This season, Flowers has graded out as the league’s fourth-best receiver by Pro Football Focus’ metrics, by far the best mark of his career. Though he’s managed just 2.8 yards of separation per targeted route, by far the lowest mark of his career, he’s been devastating with the ball in his hands, managing 3.8 more yards per catch after the reception than expected, per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. As a result, Flowers leads all high-volume receivers in yards per route run, and despite just a five-foot-nine, 183-pound frame, he’s managed to force three missed tackles. He isn’t the biggest end zone threat, since Baltimore’s red zone offense revolves around Henry, but that’s just about the only flaw in his profile.
Future Outlook
Flowers’ fantasy ceiling is definitely higher with Jackson, but true No. 1 receivers don’t suddenly tend to become unworthy of starting when backups play instead. Flowers wasn’t as good last season in the four games that Jackson missed, recording 12.2, 9.6, 14.1, and 13.0 FPTS and averaging 52.8 yards per game, but the Ravens invested in a high-quality backup in Huntley for a reason. Huntley has 16 career starts to his name, earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2022 for his work in relief of Jackson, and because he, too, is a rushing threat, Baltimore retains some of the pocket mobility that breaks down defenses even when Jackson isn’t playing.
Huntley obviously isn’t of Jackson’s quality overall, but plenty of his numbers bode well for Flowers. He was on target with 87.9% of his passes last season, a far higher rate than Jackson (72.4%), and he made bad throws at a significantly lower rate. Huntley doesn’t have nearly as effective a deep ball as Jackson does, but he actually posted a higher offensive grade on throws shorter than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage last season. 2025 was a down season for Jackson, who dealt with nagging injuries all campaign, but the fact that Huntley out-performed him in some ways is a testament to Huntley’s talent. He’s consistently been considered among the top 10 backup quarterbacks in football.
Doyle will certainly utilize a more conservative game plan for Huntley than he would for Jackson, but that’ll allow Flowers to operate in space, where he thrives. It’s also possible that the Ravens could lean even more heavily on Henry, since Huntley and Cooper Rush averaged 20.3 passes per start last season and Jackson averaged 23.2, but given that Baltimore already operates the third-most run-heavy offense as is and no longer has a reliable backup behind the 32-year-old Henry, it’s hard to imagine him doing much more. Henry has been incredibly durable throughout his career, but given his importance to the team, his workload has to remain a consideration.
Flowers has a fairly favorable matchup this week. Although the Falcons have been pretty good against opposing passers on a per-play basis, limiting them to the sixth-lowest completion percentage and the fifth-fewest yards per attempt, they’ve allowed the third-most yards overall. As a result, only four teams have allowed more FPTS per game to opposing wideouts. Flowers primarily lines up in the slot, so he should have a friendly matchup against Atlanta slot corner Avieon Terrell, who ranks just 58th among 102 qualified cornerbacks this season by PFF’s coverage grades. When he lines up on the outside, he might also be able to take advantage of Mike Hughes, whose 13.6% missed tackle rate is worse than the league median.
