Ravens vs. Seahawks: Fantasy Football Preview

This Sunday, the Ravens head out West to take on the 4-1 Seattle Seahawks. Baltimore is riding a two-game winning streak while entering the toughest stretch of their season. Russell Wilson is playing MVP-caliber football and CenturyLink Field remains one of the toughest venues for opposing players in all of sports. Below is a breakdown of all viable fantasy football options in this match up.

Quarterbacks

Lamar Jackson

Jackson comes into this week fresh off a record-breaking performance against the Cincinnati Bengals. The second-year quarterback was nothing short of electric as he became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 150+ yards while also throwing for 250+ yards in the regular season. Traveling to Seattle will be one of the toughest tests thus far in Jackson’s career as he will look to silence the narrative that he only beats up on bad teams.

The Seahawks defense isn’t the dominant unit they once were, ranking only 19^th against fantasy quarterbacks. Jackson currently ranks first in fantasy points for the quarterback position in 2019 and has the safest weekly floor due to his rushing abilities. Currently on pace for 1,227 rushing yards, Jackson ranks 8^th in the NFL in rushing yards with eyes set on shattering Michael Vick’s quarterback rushing record of 1,039 yards. Although he won’t be seeing the 19 carries that he received on Sunday all season, he currently stands at 69 rushing attempts, 28 more than the next closest quarterback Josh Allen. Jackson remains locked in as a QB1 with league winning upside.

Russell Wilson

The current front runner for MVP, Wilson has been playing the best ball of his already Hall of Fame worthy career. He has been flawless, passing for 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions while leading the Seahawks to a 5-1 record. The most impressive part of his hot start is the lack of top end play makers at his disposal.

Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf have been impressive, and the success of the running game has opened up opportunities, but they will now be without breakout tight end Will Dissly who is lost for the season with an Achilles injury. Wilson loves to utilize his tight ends, so the loss of Dissly could limit his upside from here on out as Luke Willson will now be asked to step up in his absence.

The Ravens pass defense has been torched thus far in 2019 but have steadily improved the last few weeks. They will receive reinforcements in the form of Marcus Peters who arrives via trade with the Los Angeles Rams. This gives the Ravens defense some flexibility in the back end and provides them with a play maker who leads the lead in interceptions since 2015 with 24. In order to slow down Wilson, the Baltimore defense will need to see an uptick in their pass rush productivity which ranks at the bottom ten of the league. Wilson remains a high-end QB1 for this contest.

Running Backs

Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards, Justice Hill

Ingram found the end zone again in Week 6, which has become a common theme in his first year as the Ravens running back. Currently with seven scores on the season, he now faces a Seattle defense who has allowed two touchdowns to running backs in consecutive weeks. Although his usage has come into question as of late, Ingram is still seeing 58.7 percent of the carries while receiving eight of the 14 team carries inside the five-yard line. The Ravens did not need to lean on him in Week 6 against the Bengals as their defense allowed running lanes to Lamar Jackson all afternoon.

It is rare to see a quarterback cut into the workload of a running back but that has been the case in Baltimore. While this is a negative to his outlook in weekly fantasy, the Ravens have been smart limiting his usage which should pay dividends in December. He is still seeing enough volume to be squarely in the RB2 conversation and could be leaned on more heavily in any given week. On the road in a ruckus environment, this could be a game the Ravens will look to establish him early on.

Both Gus Edwards and Justice hill have seen their usage rise in recent weeks, but not enough to make them viable fantasy options at this point. The Ravens continue to not use Edwards towards the goal line and Justice Hill has yet to make an impact in the passing game. In Week 6, both flashed their play making abilities but with Ingram and Jackson entrenched as the one-two punch, the opportunities are just not there. As always, Edwards remains one of the best handcuffs to own and an injury to either Edwards or Ingram would put Hill on the fantasy radar.

Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny

Carson has been a true workhorse for the Seattle offense which was on full display last week. Totaling 28 touches, he shredded the Browns defense for 159 yards and a touchdown running behind an injury-riddled offensive line. Although the Ravens defense has not lived up to the standard of years past, the run defense remains a strength for the unit.

If you take away the Browns game in which Brandon Williams was inactive, they have allowed a measly 3.3 yards per carry to opposing running backs. Nick Chubb is the only running back to total over 100 yards on the season and no other player have eclipsed 65 yards against them. In the last three games, Carson has both eclipsed 20 carries and over 100 yards in each contest and has been a driving force for the offense. There is reason to lower expectations in this match up against the Ravens, but he will still be a high-end RB2 with the volume to give him his weekly RB1 upside.

Rashaad Penny looks like he will be healthy enough to go in this one but shouldn’t be a big threat to eat into Carson’s productivity. With Carson seeing no less than 15 carries all season and coming on strong the last three weeks, Penny will not have enough volume to be considered in fantasy lineups for week 7. He remains as one of the most valuable handcuffs to own at the running back position.

Wide Receivers

Marquise Brown, Willie Snead IV, Miles Boykin

Unable to go in Week 6, the health of Hollywood Brown will be under a close microscope leading up to game time on Sunday. Nursing an ankle injury, the Ravens likely played it safe against a Bengals team that didn’t pose a huge threat. He was a game time decision last week, which should mean he’s close to returning, although he did miss practice again on Wednesday. The Seattle secondary is not one of the strengths on the defense, allowing three different receivers to go over 100 yards receiving.

The Ravens offense clearly lacks explosiveness through the air when Brown is not in the lineup, so his return would be a big boost. Since shredding the Dolphins and Cardinals through the air, the passing game has lost some of its luster and hasn’t been effective in pushing the ball downfield. The Seahawks will likely be looking to limit Jackson’s damage on the ground so opportunities should arise to take some shots to Brown downfield. Coming off an ankle injury, he’s tough to trust in lineups but always offers that big play upside. He will be a boom or bust WR3 barring he is healthy enough to go in this contest.

If Brown is unable to go, Boykin and Snead would both move into the streamer conversation. With the run-heavy game plan in Week 6, neither receiver put up big numbers in Brown’s absence. This week should see the Ravens needing to pass the ball more and Boykin has been effective in the red zone, connecting with Jackson on two touchdowns so far in 2019. Snead operates as a possession receiver in the Ravens offense, but opportunities have been lost to the emergence of Mark Andrews. With limited big play upside, the edge goes to Boykin if Brown is inactive for the second straight week.

Tyler Lockett, D.K. Metcalf, Jaron Brown

Lockett has stepped into the role as Wilson’s No. 1 receiver and has been a steady contributor. In Weeks 2 & 3, he saw double-digit targets and turned them into double-digit receptions. Since then, he has not seen more than five targets in a game and has only found the end zone once. Wilson has crazy accuracy, making life easier on Lockett to do more with less as he has reeled in all 13 targets he has seen over the last three weeks.

The Ravens have used Marlon Humphrey to shadow opposing teams’ best receiver which has been effective thus far. If Lockett does see Humphrey for most of the game, it is safe to dial back expectations as he already doesn’t see a lot of targets. With Wilson playing at an MVP level and the Ravens defense, aside from Humphrey, prone to the big play, he will remain in the WR3 mix.

With Will Dissly out for the year with an Achilles injury, Metcalf may be the biggest benefactor as he is the obvious choice for more red zone work. Although he has not caught more than five balls in any game this season, he is averaging an insane 21 yards per reception as he has been very successful down field. If Lockett gets matched up with Humphrey, look for newly acquired Marcus Peters to follow Metcalf. These two have already seen each other back in week 5 when Metcalf was able to get behind him for a 40-yard touchdown.

While it might look like he beat Peters on the play, it was more of a blown coverage as he clearly thought he had help deep. The Ravens run more press man, which is a better fit for Peters game than the zone concepts deployed in Los Angeles. This will allow him to get more physical at the line which could give Metcalf fits. Metcalf will be a touchdown dependent play this week and will need a few of his big plays to be a factor in this one.

Tight Ends

Mark Andrews

Andrews got back on track last week, hanging 99 yards on 6 catches as his stellar second season rolls on. Andrews has yet to see less than seven targets in a game and is the clear-cut favorite target for Lamar Jackson. This week he gets a Seahawks defense that has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to tight ends while giving up almost nine yards per reception. There is no reason to shy away from him in this matchup and if Hollywood Brown is unable to go, the potential upside is even bigger. He will be a no-brainer TE1 with the potential to finish with the most points at the position for Week 7.

Luke Willson

After losing Dissly for the remainder of the season, Willson will now fill in as the starter for this game. This is familiar territory as he has played the spot starter role in previous seasons with the Seahawks. It could be worse as he already has chemistry with Wilson and has found moderate success over the years. Although the Ravens effectively erased Tyler Eifert in Week 6, this is still a team that historically struggles covering the tight end position.

Allowing 10 yards per target this season to the position, this could be an area the Seahawks look to expose with Willson flying under the radar. As good as Russell Wilson has been throwing the ball, I’m not sure that’s enough to justify putting Willson in starting lineups. He will likely get some catches, but it won’t equate to anything further than TE2 production.