It turns out, the Baltimore Ravens are a tough team to predict when it comes to fantasy football.
After a Week 4 blowout win over the Buffalo Bills in which Derrick Henry ran wild, we made some logical fantasy football start-sit calls for Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals:
- Sit Zay Flowers, who had had four catches for 30 yards and no touchdowns over the previous two games,
- Start Justice Hill, who was coming off a season-high in touches and yards, might need to relieve Henry more, and was facing a Bengals team that had struggled against the run,
- And sit Isaiah Likely, who had had seven catches for 69 yards over the last four games.
So what happens in Week 5? Flowers explodes for seven catches and 111 yards, Hill gets just six total touches, and Likely catches two touchdowns, buoying a fantasy day where he only had 13 yards. Even Mark Andrews, who had been so quiet that we just assumed sit him, had four catches for 55 yards, a season-high.
Now the Ravens taken on the Washington Commanders in a potential shootout between two of the NFL's best offenses. The Commanders have struggled against the run, making Ravens' start-sit decisions even harder: will the Ravens go back to relying on the run, making their passing game irrelevant? Or will they have to throw to keep pace with the Commanders' explosive offense?
We take a stab at who start and who to sit for Week 6 below.
Zay Flowers, WR — Start him
Flowers' quiet Weeks 3 and 4 may end up just being a blip in the radar. Flowers has had double-digit targets in the Ravens' other three games and has gone for a combined 239 yards with one touchdown. He is the clear No. 1 target in the passing game.
Although the Commanders have defended the pass fairly well this season, they have still given up big games to opposing receivers: 10-127-1 to Malik Nabers in Week 2 and 6-118-2 to Ja'Marr Chase in Week 3.
Mark Andrews, TE — Sit him
Andrews finally broke out somewhat in Week 5, as mentioned, going for four catches and 55 yards on five targets. If any fantasy managers had Andrews in their lineups, it was likely a solid-enough day.
But that "breakout" for Andrews still only made him TE19 in standard scoring for Week 6.
In fact, Andrews and Likely (more on him in a second) were both out-produced by third-string tight end Charlie Kolar, despite playing more snaps than Kolar. It goes to show the volatility of the Ravens' tight end position from a fantasy standpoint.
It's possible that Andrews continues to get untracked and has an even better game in Week 6 — we'd rather wait to see it.
Isaiah Likely, TE — Sit him
Our evaluation of Likely isn't much different than Andrews — it's too hard to trust him.
Two touchdowns — one from an incredible Lamar Jackson backfield scramble — salvaged what would have other been a miserable fantasy day: one catch for six yards.
Likely out-snapped all of the other Ravens' tight ends and it's hard to ignore that he's become one of Jackson's favorite end zone targets. But banking on touchdowns in fantasy is risky business, and Likely's recent output doesn't warrant starting him.
More Ravens news:
NFL Week 6 picks, predictions: Baltimore Ravens vs. Washington Commanders
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