Should I Start Lamar Jackson?

Friday, October 2, 5:25 PM

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (back) looks to carry the momentum from the team's thrilling 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Brazil into Week 4 at home against the Tennessee Titans. The veteran quarterback did pop up on the injury report with a limited practice on Wednesday. Still, he logged two full practices to finish the week and heads into the weekend without an injury designation. In Rio de Janeiro, Lamar was efficient, completing 15 of 20 passes for 186 yards and two passing touchdowns, logging a 136.7 passer rating, which led all quarterbacks in Week 3. Fantasy managers were also pleased with Jackson's season-high 50 rushing yards, 33 of which were off two designed rushing attempts, also a season-high. According to Next Gen Stats, Jackson has scrambled to run on 12% of his dropbacks this season, the fourth-highest rate among qualified quarterbacks, accounting for 89 scramble rush yards, the fifth-highest in the league. Interestingly, the Titans' pass defense has allowed quarterbacks to scramble and run on 7.3% of dropbacks this season, the sixth-highest rate after three weeks, which should enable the elusive play caller to continue his success on the ground. This scramble ability may become even more necessary with the Ravens' depleted offensive line, but the Titans are allowing the NFL's longest quarterback time to throw (3.12 seconds), a bottom-third quarterback pressure rate of 33.3%, and second-lowest pressure rate against play action (17.4%) thus far. Lamar's favorite target, wide receiver Zay Flowers (hamstring), should be back to a full workload if he is active, which is likely to boost the two-time MVP's ability to generate more fantasy points through the air. Lamar Jackson remains a locked-in QB1 starter for fantasy managers across all league formats.