Ravens and Chiefs Week 1 Key Takeaways
In this article I will be breaking down my key takeaways from the game and what stood out to me. Which players are on the up which players are trending down, is it time to Crown Isiah Likey the new tight end 1 in Baltimore or is Mark Andrews still boss intown? Xavier Worthy the new cheetah...? Or is he just another speedster?
Ravens
We will start on the Raven's side of the ball first, and of course, we will have to talk about Isiah Likely. I tweeted out after the first half that you should really buy Likely. Likely exploded for an impressive stat sheet along with Zay Flowers, which would have had 4 more targets and 40+ more yards if plays had not been called back due to illegal formation. Rashod Bateman stayed healthy and could finally play more than 85% of the snaps, which he hadn’t been able to do since his rookie season. Once the advance metric comes out, I will be very interested in seeing Lamar’s ADOT, to me it felt like everything was close to the line of scrimmage and nothing deep until later in the game. Greg Monkin, I think, was worried about the offensive line being unable to hold back Chris Jones, who had a strip sack against Lamar in the game. I think once the season gets about mid-way, the offensive line will greatly improve. This will give Lamar time to set his feet in the pocket and deliver more accurate throws.
Lamar had an impressive 395 of total yards against the chiefs, he looked smoother while running and more explosive in previous years. The problem was he just wasn’t accurate with the football. I always thought Lamar had a pretty solid deep ball, but this game just wasn’t it. He underthrew Isiah Likely on a deep ball, overthrew Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers, before finally connecting a 40+ yard pass to Rashod Bateman a during the 2-minute drill. I think the Ravens offensive line needs more time and real game reps before Lamar can go back to an MVP level of 65% pass completion. Overall, for fantasy he played really well, and just needs to do a better job of holding onto the football in the pocket.
Greg Monkin needs to stop abandoning the run game and Baltimore needs to address the running back depth problems. Derrick Henry didn’t get as much opportunities as I thought and wasn’t really out there for 3rd downs compared to the time he was with the Titans. Justice Hill seems to have the third down role locked down until Mitchell or Ali returns, along with the third down role locked down Hill is the obvious cuff for Derrick Henry. The Ravens RB depth chart is as listed in order: Patrick Ricard (FB), John Kelly (Who?), Keaton Mitchell (IR), Owen Wright (once again who?), and Rasheen Ali. The lack of depth is something that needs to be addressed. If it weren’t for the TD, then Derrick Henry would have only scored 4.6 fantasy points… If Justice Hill is out on the waiver wire, he’s worth an add (Dynasty), especially in best ball formatting.
Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman
The Ravens wanted to get the ball into Flowers's hands as much as possible and even gave him 2 carries, which he rushed for 14 yards. After this Thursday night lost, I hope the Ravens learned they need to stretch the field out with Bateman and keep feed Zay Flowers and let him create the YAC. Bateman is the most interesting guy to me for one he is the cheapest, but as the Ravens Offensive line gets better, I think Bateman will finally have the breakout year we’ve all wanted to see. The deep strike delivered by Lamar, Bateman made a beautiful catch on which set the Ravens up to almost score the game-tying touchdown. He is going to be a guy I'm trying to acquire in every league as a throw in piece or for a 3rd or 4th round pick. Zay Flowers is a guy I'm holding because even though he had 13 targets this game (4 were called back due to illegal formation), Is a great value version of Amon’Ra St. Brown, where he could put up those mid 20 pt games, but also, he could put up these 10 pt games.
Mark Andrews and Isiah Likely
Mark Andrews got into a car accident 14 August and didn't return to practice until last Friday. He looked slow at times and didn’t help the Chiefs gameplan was to shut him down. My worried meter for Andrews is a 2/10. I’m sure he will be better next week and slowly return to the elite tight end that we all rely on. Isaiah Likely, on the other hand, looked terrific from where he was in his rookie season to last season. This man has been constantly improving. I’m not saying we are looking at a Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert situation here, but he looked elite. I loved how they lined him up on the line, outside in the slot really anywhere to keep him involved in this offense. I think when Andrews gets back to 100%, he will still have these monster games and is worth a waiver wire add-in redraft and knocking on manager's doors to see what it would cost to acquire him.
Chiefs
Chiefs had to be last in something and since the Ravens disappointed me today here I am... All Jokes aside the Chiefs played Chiefs football Patrick Mahomes was efficient as always, but what stood out to me was not Xavier Worthy, but his teammate Rashee Rice. Rice was hyped targeted early in the first half and finished the game out strong and by far was the best Chiefs player outside of the refs and Patrick Mahomes. Travis Kelce disappeared for most of the game like Andrews did is it time to panic (No), but let's dive into it.
Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and showcased why today. In the game he broke the Chiefs all-time passing record, along with that he caught his own pass for a 2-yard game (Trying to copy Lamar Jacksons) ... The first drive of the game it took the Chiefs offense 5 plays to tie the game, Rice was the biggest part of this, and it appears to be Mahomes most trusted WR. Mahomes also scrambled 3 times this game one got called back for holding which would have been his longest run of the game (15+ yards). Overall, it was another outstanding game by Patrick Mahomes.
Isaiah Pacheco, Samaje Perine and Carson Steele
Isiah Pacheco is the versatile bruiser back like he has always been for the Chiefs, with all the changes to the Raven's defense during the offseason it's still a good run defense. Pacheco will be the low end rb1 to a high-end rb2 again this season and is worth a buy for a short-term contending manager with the upside of a few more years. Carson Steele just came out to give Pacheco a break and didn’t do much with the limited opportunities. Samaje Perine is the guy I'm most interested in. This offense is worth a roster spot in dynasty leagues and big bench bestball and redraft leagues. It will be interesting to see how his opportunity increases the more he learns the system, he has the upside to be a Jerrick Mckinnon from a few years ago.
Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson and Juju.
As I discussed, Rashee Rice was by far the best wide receiver on the field tonight. He could get open in the middle and looked explosive with the ball in his hands. With all the pending legal battles, he’s a player who's worth the risk of being on your roster, and this game showed why. Hopefully, he can stay out of trouble once the case gets handled and he serves his punishment, but until then, Rice is a weekly must-start. Now let's get into the new “Tyreek Hill” Xavier Worthy; there’s no denying the speed that Worthy has, there is no denying he has the best quarterback, and there's no denying he is in one of the best-coached organizations in the entire NFL. However, there are still problems that remain for me, which is his route-running ability. His first career touchdown came off an end around, which was a beautifully designed play that the Ravens were not ready for. Then his 2nd touchdown came from broken coverage by Marlon Humphrey. To me, he hasn’t shown me that he's an actual WR and not a gadget type of player (For example, Kadarius Toney). These guys do have value to NFL teams, but not the guys I want on my fantasy football rosters. On FantasyCalcs Trade browser, he went straight up for Devonta Smith, which I would much rather have. I’m selling him after this game. People saw what he could do, but a blind squirrel will find a nut every now and again. Nothing has changed for me, and I would much rather have Ladd and Thomas Jr over Worthy. We still haven’t seen what this offense will look like when Hollywood Brown returns from injury.
Travis Kelce and Noah Gray
If anyone had the TE2s out producing the TE1s on their bingo cards today well then you had a bingo. For me I'm not at all worried about Travis Kelce does it appear he's hitting an age cliff well I'm not ready to say that quite yet. Like I said before Baltimore is an outstanding defense still after all the changes during the off-season. It was clear their game plan was to stop the run and take Kelce out of the game, but it didn’t work because the Ravens still lost. On contending rosters and redrafts, I will be using this game to try and buy Kelce if any of the managers are worried about the age cliff hitting this season. Just note that the age cliff looks like it's coming quickly for Kelce, and that elite run of TE1 appears to be coming to an end, especially with all the new talent coming into the league.
Cliff Notes
Lamar Jackson didn’t have the best game-throwing, but he made up for it by rushing the ball.
Derrick Henry didn’t get enough attempts and needs to be more involved (the buy window is open).
Justice Hill appears to be the 3rd down and 2-minute drill guy Zay Flowers Shows he can demand a high target volume just needs to prove he can do something with it
Rashod Bateman could be a roster clogger or could be a guy you can start in your flex every week, but there is still hope
Mark Andrews is a buy if there's any sort of discount
Isiah Likely is really really good and is a buy if you can get him for a price that's close to his original before the game (2025 2nd)
Patrick Mahomes is HIM
Isiah Pacheco got the points you expected from him and is that steady Eddy running back.
Rashee Rice is really talented, and if you bought him in the offseason, well give yourself a pad on the back.
Xavier Worthy showed his potential, but I don’t expect this to continue. He is more of a hot and cold kind of guy. (Sell).
Travis Kelce is one of the best tight ends of his generation but isn’t that clear TE1 year after year. Still worth a buy, just not where it was.
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