The Baltimore receiver’s strong numbers are tempered by uncertainty over Lamar Jackson’s ankle injury. CBS Sports keeps Flowers in the WR2 tier and reviews other options ahead of Week 5.
Zay Flowers is off to a strong start: his target-per-route-run rate is 39.3%, the best among wide receivers, and his 6.29 yards per route run outpace the field. He is averaging 22.4 PPR fantasy points per game, sixth-best, despite not playing more than one-third of Baltimore’s offensive snaps until Week 4.
The outlook is complicated by Lamar Jackson’s ankle injury. If the starting quarterback misses Week 5, Tyler Huntley is expected to take over. Across 16 NFL starts, Huntley has averaged 156.9 passing yards, with 10 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. CBS Sports’ projection assumes 26 pass attempts and about eight targets for Flowers. At Huntley’s 64.5% completion rate as a starter, that works out to roughly five catches. The forecast gives Flowers 70 yards and a WR2 designation: a viable starter, but with a lower ceiling than he has had with Jackson.
In its wider receiver preview, CBS Sports places DK Metcalf in the lower WR2 range after he recorded 488 targeted air yards, fourth-most in the league. Drake London is averaging 4.02 yards per route run; only Flowers and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are ahead of him. CeeDee Lamb has a 31.5% target share, leaving George Pickens with 19.4% and a volatile WR3 outlook.
Keon Coleman has a 22.4% target share when DJ Moore is off the field and could be a popular waiver option alongside Khalil Shakir. Both are viewed as boom-or-bust WR3s while Moore is unavailable. Michael Wilson has nine red-zone targets, more than all but Amon-Ra St. Brown and Smith-Njigba. Denzel Boston’s 17.4-yard average depth of target creates big-play potential but makes him difficult to project consistently. Mike Evans’ 70.8% catch rate would be a career best.
Houston has allowed a league-high 44 PPR points per game to wide receivers. Malik Washington is averaging seven targets and 54.8 receiving yards, but just 9.5 PPR points, partly because of his lack of touchdowns and Miami’s low play volume. The author sees a chance for several stronger weeks. Tre Harris remains a boom-or-bust WR3 for the Chargers while Ladd McConkey is out.