The Baltimore Ravens head into a Week 5 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals having righted the ship from an 0-2 start.
A big part of that has been a tweak on offense: feeding Derrick Henry the ball. Henry has come through, totaling over over 350 rushing yards and four total touchdowns over the last two weeks.
Accordingly, it's impacted the rest of the Ravens' offensive players, especially when it comes to fantasy football. Lamar Jackson has thrown just 33 combined passes over the last two weeks. Leading wideout Zay Flowers has six combined targets. The only Ravens player to top 60 receiving yards in those two games has been backup running back Justice Hill (with 78 in Week 4).
As the Ravens prepare for the Bengals, we examine the fantasy cases for some of Baltimore's top weapons.
Ravens fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em for Week 5
Zay Flowers, WR — Sit him
We argued for starting Flowers last week, thinking that the Ravens might have to throw the ball to keep up with the Bills' offense. Instead, the Ravens ran over the Bills with Henry accumulating 199 rushing yards, leaving Jackson to throw just 18 passes. Flowers was only targeted twice, catching one pass for 10 yards.
It's tempting to suggest Flowers will bounce back this week after two quiet performances in a row. However, the Bengals have struggled against the run this year, and it doesn't feel like the Ravens are inclined to stop running the ball with how well it's working.
In two games against the Bengals last year, Flowers averaged 52 yards per game and didn't score a touchdown.
Justice Hill, RB — Start him (if you need to)
Some fantasy football managers might have better options than Hill, so he's not a must-start. But amid injuries to impact fantasy players and teams like the Eagles, Lions, Chargers, and Titans on byes, Hill might be a quality flex play.
Hill had a season-high 10 touches in Week 4 and turned them into 96 yards from scrimmage and a receiving touchdown. That is obviously highly efficient, and there is concern about it coming down.
But the Ravens may also want to involve Hill more. John Harbaugh praised Hill's "breakout" after Week 4. While the Ravens likely aren't going to turn away from Henry, they may want to reduce his workload slightly, as he has totaled 49 carries over the last two weeks. With the run game working so well, the Ravens might shift some of those carries over to Hill, who, it should be noted, also has eight targets over the last two weeks.
Again, we're not expecting a dominant outing from Hill, but he may have played his way into a safe floor for fantasy managers who don't have better options this week.
Isaiah Likely, TE — Sit him
Since his Week 1 breakout, Likely has just five catches for 56 yards and 0 touchdowns over the last three games.
With the Ravens throwing the ball so little, and Jackson spreading it around when he does, it's just too hard to trust the Ravens tight ends. The Bengals are also yet to allow a big performance to an opposing tight end.
Sitting the Ravens' tight ends — including the conspicuously quiet Mark Andrews — will come back to bite fantasy managers one day. Likely or Andrews will eventually have an explosive performance. But for now, it might be better to play them based on recent performances, rather than gambling that they will break out again.
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