Should I Start Lamar Jackson?

Friday, September 18, 11:15 PM

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will play host to the New Orleans Saints in the team's home opener Sunday afternoon. The two-time NFL MVP finished as a top-five QB in a 41-23 dominating Week 1 win against the Indianapolis Colts, completing 17 of his 25 pass attempts for 324 yards and scoring two touchdowns, one in the air and one on the ground. He also racked up 40 rushing yards, but his lost fumble is the primary blemish on an otherwise impressive start to the season. Jackson also had only one designed run for five yards, but thankfully, that attempt came from the five-yard line, and Lamar scored a rushing touchdown on that play. One key change to the Declan Doyle-led offense going into Week 1 was the expectation that Lamar would take more snaps from under center and use play-action elements more than last season. Against the Colts last week, Jackson completed seven of his eight play-action pass attempts for 128 yards, and these 16 yards per attempt were the third-highest in his career among games with at least eight play-action attempts, according to Next Gen stats. However, the Saints defense allowed only 48 yards on seven of 14 play-action pass attempts in Week 1 against Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions, suggesting a tougher matchup for the Ravens' new style in Week 2. Further, the Saints' defense also used zone coverage on 39 of 41 snaps (95.1%) against the Lions last week, but this may bode well for Lamar, who averaged 11 yards per attempt against zone coverage, completing eight of 12 such passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. Even with the expected absence of wide receiver Zay Flowers (hamstring), who is doubtful for Week 2, Jackson profiles as a high-end QB1, and fantasy managers in every format should have confidence in starting the dual-threat quarterback on Sunday against the Saints.