DeAndre Hopkins has been a fantasy football staple for a decade and could pass 12,000 career receiving yards this week. Zay Flowers is the uber-talented rookie for the Ravens out of Boston College and NSU University School (Go Sharks!) and has flashed at times this year.
Who is the better play for your pivotal Week 12 matchup? Let’s dig in and find out.
Zay Flowers’ Fantasy Outlook This Week
Flowers has been Lamar Jackson’s top target for most of the year, but his target share has fallen lately, with Odell Beckham Jr. seemingly getting healthier and Mark Andrews going down with an injury. Flowers’ target share is an unremarkable 14.1% over the last three games. The receiver shuffle has made Flowers less dependable than earlier in the season.
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During the offseason, we all heard about how Todd Monken supposedly would bring the University of Georgia passing attack to Baltimore and unlock Lamar’s passing skills. This has not entirely come to fruition this year, even with an unreliable backfield mix of Justice Hill, Gus Edwards, and Keaton Mitchell.
Flowers has averaged three catches for 42.3 yards in his last three games and faces off against the fifth-ranked defense against the fantasy wide receiver this week in the Los Angeles Chargers. This is a tough matchup for the Ravens’ passing attack this week.
This week, Flowers is ranked as the 26th wide receiver in our PFN Consensus Rankings, and I similarly see him as a third wide receiver in this week’s tough matchup.
DeAndre Hopkins’ Outlook This Week
Hopkins’ fortunes in the Titans’ offense completely changed in a positive direction when Tennessee finally decided to give the ball to Will Levis. During the past three weeks, Hopkins has returned to being the undisputed top option in the passing attack, with a 26.9% target share over the last three weeks.
The emergence of Kyle Philips as a true second receiver has opened things up for Hopkins in the way Treylon Burks was supposed to when he was drafted. Hopkins has averaged 3.7 catches for 48.7 yards and 1/3 of a touchdown over the last three weeks and pulled in five, nine, and 11 targets, respectively, in that span.
Hopkins faces a plus matchup this week against the No. 21 ranked defense against the fantasy wide receiver in the Carolina Panthers. Additionally, Hopkins is ranked as the 28th wide receiver in our PFN Consensus Rankings. I see Hopkins as a safe, rock-solid WR2 with legitimate WR1 upside.
Should You Start Flowers or Hopkins This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s Consensus Rankings say Flowers is the player to start. His projected 12.5 points include a projection of 5.8 receptions, 52.8 yards, and 0.2 touchdowns. That doesn’t seem like a big stat line; it outperforms the consensus projection for Hopkins(11.6 points).
However, when you isolate my rankings, I see Hopkins outperforming Flowers due to his crazy high target share and dramatically better matchup this week. I can foresee a game script where the Titans lean on Hopkins, and he provides you with a week-winning performance. I do not see Flowers’ situation in the Ravens offense legitimately having this possibility.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!