Fantasy folks, we may just have our 2019 Cheat Code: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.
Jackson carved up the Dolphins, completing 17-of-20 passes for 324 yards and FIVE TDs.
Purely as a passer, Jackson’s improvement can’t be overstated. His horrific 58% rookie-year completion percentage leaped to 85% yesterday, as Jackson dropped dimes exactly where he wanted them all afternoon (including an 83 yard bomb to Hollywood Brown).
Following this monstrous debut, Jackson sits atop the leaderboard as fantasy’s QB1… and we haven’t even seen his legs yet.
Think about that for a second. You likely drafted Jackson solely for his 1,000 yard, 10+ TD rushing upside.
Rushing accounts for exactly 1.7% of his 33.6 FPs this year.
Imagine if/when we get the best of both worlds?
Granted, this massive outburst came against the Miami Pop Warner Dolphins. Matchups won’t often be this generous (well, except for Week 2’s date with the Mighty Might Cardinals Secondary).
Still, even just a decent passing game threat makes Jackson and this offense a buzzsaw.
Greg Roman‘s (formerly) run-obsessed attack seems to have joined the times. With defenders overplaying the run game, WRs were running wide open all-day. Brown was separating like he was still at Oklahoma, and Mark Andrews was every-bit as explosive as the summer drum beats suggested.
Yes, we want to see Jackson make these throws against an actual NFL defense before fully crowning him the next coming of Fantasy Jesus. Still, if nothing else, Sunday’s masterpiece opened up the retractable dome on Jackson’s now limitless fantasy ceiling.
