Fantasy football: Where Ravens players land in rankings before training camp
Fantasy football: Where Ravens players land in rankings before training camp
NFL training camps are just around the corner, which means it's about time to start preparing for fantasy football.
The Baltimore Ravens once again enter this season with some of the NFL's most elite offensive skill players, and thus, great fantasy assets.
We looked at FantasyPros' consensus rankings for .5 PPR leagues to get an idea of where the Ravens' players stand in the top 200 players.
- Derrick Henry — 9th among RBs, 24th overall
- Lamar Jackson — 4th among QBs, 37th overall
- Mark Andrews — 3rd among TEs, 49th overall
- Zay Flowers — 26th among WRs, 53rd overall
- Rashod Bateman — 73rd among WRs, 175th overall
- Baltimore Ravens DST — 1st among DST, 180th overall
- Isaiah Likely — 23rd among TEs, 184th overall
- Keaton Mitchell — 60th among RBs, 195th overall
- Justin Tucker — 1st among kickers, 198th overall
It's a testament to the Ravens' talent that they have so many players among the very best at their position. Fantasy rankings jive with where the Ravens ranked in Pro Football Focus's position rankings.
The Ravens offense might be difficult to figure out from a fantasy standpoint, however.
On one hand, Henry has the chance to thrive and turn back the clock with one of the NFL's best rushing offenses. However, he is also 30, and the Ravens figure to have change-of-pace backs in Justice Hill and Mitchell (when the speedy second-year running back returns from a knee injury). The Ravens also have Jackson, who figures to vulture some goal-line touchdowns from Henry.
The opposite could be true, too. Anybody drafting Jackson must know that Henry is likely to steal lots of rushing touchdowns from Jackson, who might prefer to keep his body out of harm's way.
Jackson's passing could also see an uptick this season. The Ravens are giving Jackson more command of the offense and allowing him to make calls at the line of scrimmage. Baltimore seems to be heading into a more pass-friendly offense; does that lower Henry's ceiling?
And while Andrews has been an elite fantasy TE for years, the emergence of Likely could eat into his targets and overall production. In fact, Likely might be a safe late-round handcuff to Andrews, should Andrews have more injuries this season.
Training camp and preseason will reveal much more about how the Ravens offense shakes out, and these rankings could change as a result.