Which Ravens Can Carry You to Fantasy Glory?

With the conclusion of Week 7, we’ve officially reached the halfway point of the fantasy football regular season (for those participating in leagues that commence playoffs in Week 14, which are most).

Baltimore has its fair share of valuable fantasy targets compared to other NFL teams, but not all players may be worth a roster spot as of now unless you find yourself in deeper leagues where the free agent market is only slim pickings.

Here is a breakdown of which Baltimore Ravens you should consider keeping, dropping, or perhaps even proposing a trade for as the fantasy season moves into its latter half.

(All fantasy-related statistics are derived from FantasyPros.com and are based on standard format unless otherwise specified).

Quarterback

Lamar Jackson : Keep/trade for

Jackson presents himself as the most valuable fantasy asset on Baltimore’s entire roster, currently sitting between ranks three and four among quarterbacks on most fantasy platforms. No. 8 has only been a bust in two weeks of the season thus far: in Week 1 against the Texans (7.6 points) and Week 5 against the Steelers (10.9 points).

Looking at Jackson’s 21-point average across seven games, there should be no reason to turn to other quarterbacks in free agency, but he could serve as a valuable trade piece should you have a solid backup and need to improve your roster elsewhere.

Running Back

Gus Edwards: Keep benched in deeper leagues, drop in shallow leagues

For a player who has stepped up to become the go-to guy at running back, Gus Edwards has been less-than-impressive in fantasy while filling J.K. Dobbins’ role. You really can’t defend his low point totals each week by calling Baltimore’s offense a committee backfield, considering that Edwards has 45 more rush attempts than Justice Hill across seven games.

Edwards has only boomed twice in fantasy this season, earning 12.2 points in Week 2 against Cincinnati and 20.4 points in his most recent game against Detroit. Other than that, he has bounced between four and five points every game to establish a consistent but low floor.

If you find yourself in a deeper league where the free agency is absolutely abysmal, then Edwards could be kept around as a low-end flex option with potential to boom more frequently. But if it’s in an eight-person or 10-person league, you’re safer to drop Edwards with hopes of finding a more reliable option.

Justice Hill: Drop

Currently averaging five fewer rush attempts per game than Edwards, Hill has a reduced role behind an already limited fantasy producer.

The only weeks currently boosting Hill at all are a 12.9-point performance against Houston and an 8.5-point performance against Pittsburgh. Like Edwards, Hill’s other weeks have floated around five points and under.

If you’re really trying to have a Ravens running back on your fantasy team, then Edwards is the better of the two as he carries a much higher ceiling to boom under.

Keep Justice Hill off your radar for now.

Wide Receiver

Nelson Agholor: Keep benched in deeper leagues, drop in shallow leagues

Like Edwards, Agholor hasn’t been completely disappointing in fantasy football. He earned 17.3 PPR points in Week 2 against Cincinnati, and 10.4 points in Week 5 against Pittsburgh. While the weeks in-between haven’t been pretty, the 7.9 finish in Week 3 and 8.2 finish last week suggest that Agholor could be a low-end flex option in deeper leagues who tends to have a higher floor than other players on the waiver wire.

Should you find yourself in a rough patch with bye weeks or injuries, Agholor could be a risky (but only temporary) replacement who’s capable of getting you around 10 points. Don’t expect any more, and don’t expect it to happen too often.

Rashod Bateman: Drop

Rashod Bateman is yet to score above four fantasy points in standard format, landing himself at the bottom of the rankings among wide receivers. This makes sense considering that he has seen the fewest number of targets (18) and has the lowest yards (118), only ahead of Devin Duvernay.

With Mark Andrews so involved in the passing game, Bateman has a long way to go before he’ll even be worth a bench spot.

Twitter is starting to suggest that Bateman could be on Eric DeCosta’s trade block ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline given how much he’s been underused. If that’s the case, his value should only go up if he leaves for another team.

Odell Beckham: Drop

Still yet to score his first touchdown as a Baltimore Raven, Beckham Jr. has not produced enough on the field to start in fantasy thus far.

In his first six games, OBJ failed to score above five fantasy points in standard format but appeared to show a spark against the Lions last week by scoring 7.4 points in half PPR and 9.9 points in full PPR leagues. Until last week, he wasn’t a player to keep an eye on, but there could be potential for him moving forward should his season-high of seven targets become more regular in what’s currently a crowded receiver corps. Monitor his performance this week against Arizona’s shaky secondary before making room for him on your bench.

Zay Flowers: Keep and start

Out of all of Baltimore’s wide receivers, Flowers is no doubt the only one that warrants a spot on your starting lineup.

Flowers currently has the most targets on the team with 54, 14 more than Mark Andrews. Earning a single touchdown this season in London against Tennessee, Flowers is four TDs behind Andrews and one behind Agholor, but his target share combined with his 63 yards per game on average keep him projecting solid point totals each week.

Looking at the next seven opponents, four stick out with below-average secondaries that could allow big productions out of Flowers: the Cardinals this week, the Chargers in Week 12, the Rams in Week 14 and the Jaguars in Week 15.

With half of these games occurring during the first two weeks of fantasy playoffs, Flowers is too valuable to lose should you be capable of making it to your league’s championship. Start him every game.

Tight End:

Mark Andrews: Keep/trade for

2023 has proven to be a very unique year for fantasy football given just how limited the stock has been at the tight end position. There are only three solid options: Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews and T.J. Hockenson (in that order). Andrews is ranked second between Kelce and Hockenson on most fantasy sites, but Sam LaPorta has started to creep up in fourth place while booming about every other week.

Absent against Houston in Week 1, Andrews now averages 10.95 fantasy points across six games in standard format and 15.6 points in PPR. He should be considered a must-start in all league formats unless you can somehow pull off a Kelce acquisition, because he’s the only true upgrade that exists.

Isaiah Likely: Drop

Averaging just under half a point per game, Likely is no doubt the least appealing Baltimore Raven in fantasy football. Whether you follow fantasy or not, it’s been obvious that Likely is having a quiet year so far under the new Todd Monken scheme.

Likely has only three receptions from five targets this season, racking up one reception in each of his first three games. In Week 3, Likely caught a 20-yard pass from Jackson that earned him three points— his most of the season so far. Since Week 4, he has earned zero.

Unless Andrews misses time in the future, Likely is nowhere near fantasy consideration.

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