The Baltimore Ravens have been on a roll recently, and they seem to be one of the few powerhouse teams in the NFL. However, an injury to Mark Andrews may have this offense scrambling a bit to find the next reliable receiver to step up in his absence to keep things together.
Zay Flowers figures to see an expanded role in this offense moving forward, but a recent injury put his Week 12 availability into question. Let’s dive into the latest news and information and what it means for fantasy football.
Latest Injury Update on Zay Flowers
Flowers was able to play in Week 11, but he missed practice on Thursday after being listed as limited on Wednesday with a hip injury. The additional concern with this situation for fantasy managers is that the Ravens do have their bye week in Week 13, which could lead the team to be more cautious with their injured players.
However, head coach John Harbaugh spoke to reporters on Wednesday and said, “We’re approaching it (Week 12’s matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers) with an idea that it’s a very important game. Obviously, it’s a huge game for us. We need to go out there and win the game. It’s all hands on deck. We’re going to try to get everybody to the game that we can, and we’ll see how that goes.”
We’ll need to monitor the practice reports closely throughout the week, but if Flowers is near 100%, it sounds like he’ll certainly be out there against the Chargers.
Editor’s note: Flowers was seen at practice on Friday. We’ll update with the official designation as soon as it’s known.
Will Zay Flowers Play This Week?
At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether or not Flowers’ absence in practice on Thursday is an indication that he’ll miss Week 12. It’s not a great sign that he was able to practice in a limited fashion on Wednesday but then downgraded to a DNP (did not participate) on Thursday.
We’ll continue to update this article frequently with the latest news and information, so make sure to check back in frequently!
What Does This Mean For Odell Beckham Jr.’s Fantasy Ranking?
With Andrews going down with an injury, many fantasy managers expected Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr. to see an uptick in targets. If Flowers misses Week 12’s showdown on Sunday Night Football, we should see Beckham fly up the fantasy rankings.
While Beckham was listed as a DNP on Wednesday with a shoulder injury, he was upgraded to a limited participant on Thursday. He’s now trending in the right direction, which means that fantasy managers should expect — for the time being — him to be out there in Week 12.
If Rashod Bateman, OBJ, and Isaiah Likely are the only healthy receiving weapons for Baltimore this week, we should view OBJ as a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 that comes with plenty of upside in a terrific matchup.
The Chargers are allowing the second most fantasy points to opposing WRs this season with a jaw-dropping 34.8 points per game. They’ve been unable to slow down opposing passing games in 2023 and that should easily continue in this one up against a Ravens offense that is steamrolling their opponents lately.
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