A high-powered offense showcased its explosive potential, with key players connecting for significant gains and scores. These types of performances can make or break a weekly fantasy football matchup. We will analyze the standout efforts and what they mean for managers moving forward.
Lamar Jackson, QB
MVP awards aren’t won or lost in the first week of the season, but the Lamar Jackson fans/bettors certainly have this game circled as one that could have meaning far beyond who opens 2025 with a 1-0 record.
These two powerhouses faced each other twice last season, and the volume stats were … well, they weren’t great for Baltimore’s cornerstone. In those contests, he totaled just 31 completions and 12 rush attempts, but he had multiple passing scores and a 15+ yard run in both games.
Ok this is the absolute sickest play I’ve ever seen a QB make. Lamar ACTION Jackson
▪️fumble snap
▪️stuff arm defenders
▪️highlight reel TD throw on the move
pic.twitter.com/7FCq102ZPi— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) October 6, 2024
And that’s the case for Jackson to be QB1, right?
You drafted him to carry your team weekly, and while this may not be a break-the-slate performance, I don’t think there’s a proper way to slow him for four quarters.
Derrick Henry, RB
In last season’s playoff game, Buffalo controlled the clock, holding the ball for nearly three and a half more minutes than Baltimore. The Bills played with a lead for most of the game, and the longest run they allowed was a 22-yarder to Justice Hill. If there was ever a script for Derrick Henry to have a disappointing fantasy performance, that was it. Instead, he ran for 84 yards and scored a touchdown.
Henry’s profile seems to scream “fade” because of his perceived skill limitations and usage patterns, but nothing he has actually put on paper suggests we should expect anything less than another monstrous season. Maybe Father Time will finally collect his due this year. It certainly could happen, but it also could have happened 24 months ago. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Looking ahead to this matchup, the Baltimore Ravens will want to keep Josh Allen off the field. They have a machine in Henry whose skill set might be better suited than any defensive game plan to stop the reigning MVP. You’re playing Henry and feeling great about it every week until a data point gives us a reason for pause. And even then, you’re probably playing him again.
DeAndre Hopkins, WR
DeAndre Hopkins was on the field for just 47.5% of Chiefs snaps last season, which is easily a career low, and it’s hard to expect him to bite off a role in Baltimore that puts him on our radar on any sort of consistent basis.
.@DeAndreHopkins first game as a Raven loading pic.twitter.com/z7c2Abq9In
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 3, 2025
As mentioned above, the Chiefs join the Bengals, Cowboys, Titans, Colts, and Saints as teams on bye in Weeks 10-11, a stretch in which the Ravens face defenses that thrive in chaos (Minnesota and Cleveland). If I had to get out the crystal ball and find a window in which Hopkins could justify flex consideration, that would be it, with the understanding that he carves out a niche in Todd Monken’s scheme and earns Lamar Jackson’s trust.
For now, you need not chase the big name.
Rashod Bateman, WR
“Following a breakout season.”
I’ve seen Rashod Bateman profiles tee’d up that way this season, and I understand that his nine touchdowns from last season were good to see, but the man caught 45 passes in 17 games.
He had one game during the fantasy season with more than four receptions.
For me, “breakout” is as much projecting as storytelling. If you believe a player “broke out” the year prior, you’re implying that more goodness is to come, right?
Peak Calvin Johnson scored on 16.2% of his receptions. That was in 2010-11 for one of the best to ever do it. So if you think Bateman can score on 20% of his receptions like he did a year ago, more power to you.
I can’t get there.
Here’s some number-bending for you. Bateman has averaged 2.3 catches per game during the two seasons spent with Todd Monken. That would be a 40-catch projection for the upcoming season if you assume he plays all 17 games.
Recall that Megatron scored on 16.2% of his receptions during that peak stretch, and if we give Bateman that exact rate from the beginning of last season through this year, with our 40-grab number penciled in, we’d be looking at 4-5 touchdown receptions.
That stat line looks like Michael Wilson or Allen Lazard from a season ago.
I’m not comfortable counting out anyone in this Monken machine, but that doesn’t mean I’m the least comfortable projecting Bateman into my starting lineup.
Zay Flowers, WR
Fun fact: 51 players have had a double-digit reception game since the start of 2023.
Less fun fact: Zay Flowers isn’t one of them.
Now, 10 receptions is a huge day and can never be projected. Still, the fact that Flowers, as a shorter-yardage receiver, has graded as elite in both of his seasons in a defense, isn’t on that list, speaks to the fantasy limitations of this system.
For his career, Flowers averages 4.6 catches and 58.1 receiving yards per game. That’s not bad, and if he can carve out a more valuable role in scoring situations (four of his nine career TD catches came in a five-game stretch as a rookie), he’ll be a lineup staple.
For now, he’s on the fringes. I have him ranked as a viable flex play in all formats because of the high projected total for this game. The floor is high enough for me to feel good about supplementing the limited upside elsewhere on my roster in most situations.
Buffalo has followed the NFL trend of umbrella coverage schemes that contain deep passes. This strategy could result in Flowers catching at least a handful of balls, thus making him lineup-worthy in the most anticipated game of the opening week.
Isaiah Likely, TE
Isaiah Likely underwent surgery in July on a broken foot bone, resulting in no real ramping-up period for the season. At this moment, his status for Week 1 is unclear, but with all 32 teams in action this week, why would you roll the dice on a player whose role isn’t 100% clear even when 100% healthy?
A player like Likely is the difference between shallow and deep leagues. I have no patience for an injured asset entering the season unless you have access to an IR slot for him. If that’s the case, you have nothing to lose. If not, what do you have to gain?
In deep leagues, however, Likely is close to a must-stash. He posted a 39.5% snap share in 2022, earned a promotion to 43.9% in 2023, and saw it spike to 60.3% in Year 3. He’s an impactful talent in an explosive offense, and that’s a profile that I don’t mind stashing over a WR7 type that I see so many deeper league rosters sit on.
If your WR7 is hitting your lineup, your ship has already sunk. At the tight end position, a player like Likely can bust into the TE1 conversation without outlier production, and that is why I want exposure to him.
That said, he’s reached double-digit PPR points just twice in his career when not playing at least half of the offensive snaps. There’s more risk than reward for a profile like that on a team that has an eye on the big picture at all times (68 wins since the beginning of 2019, the third most in the league), but there is also long-term appeal to a young player whose talent is obvious.
Stash if you have the room, and if you don’t have the space right now, don’t be shy about pouncing when we see signs of full health.
Mark Andrews, TE
You drafted Andrews to play him, understanding that there are scoring limitations based on the roster construction and, in time, role issues should Isaiah Likely truly see his role expanded. I think you’re safe in doing just that in this spot.
During the playoff loss, Andrews earned seven targets on 27 routes against these Bills (five catches for 61 yards). That was a nice production that is easy to forget given how that game ended (a late fumble and a dropped two-point conversion).
We haven’t seen Andrews come out of the gates in strong fantasy form lately (86 receiving yards on his 107 routes in his last three Week 1 games), but I’d read that more as a coincidence than anything. The veteran tight end might not be why you win your first matchup of the season, though I don’t think he’ll be why you lose it.
