Ravens vs. Lions Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 3

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 3 matchup between the Ravens and Lions on Monday Night Football.

Find a breakdown of every Week 3 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Quarterback

Lamar Jackson: Jackson got off to a slow start on Sunday, throwing for only 77 yards with 4.5 yards per pass attempt in the first half against Cleveland.

The Browns could only hold this offense for so long, however.

Jackson went 9 of 12 for 148 yards (12.3 Y/A) with 3 touchdowns after the half.

He only ran twice for 13 yards, but Jackson found his way to another top-three scoring week (26.3 points).

This game offers plenty of scoring upside as Detroit should push Baltimore to a greater degree than the Browns did a week ago.

That puts Jackson right at the front of the position for fantasy upside.

He will face another aggressive man-coverage defense on Monday, but one that has gotten far less pressure than Cleveland to open the year.

Detroit is ninth to open the season in rate of man coverage (30.6%), and they have blitzed at a 31.3% rate (11th).

However, they are 26th in pressure rate to open the year (26.2% of dropbacks).

When he has not been pressured, Jackson has posted 9.5 yards per pass attempt (fifth) with a league-high 18.2% touchdown rate.

Against man coverage, he has thrown for 9.8 yards per pass attempt (sixth) and a 17.2% touchdown rate (sixth).

Detroit’s pass rush will be vital here.

When he has been pressured, Jackson has completed 46.7% of his passes (19th) without a touchdown pass.

Jared Goff: After a lackluster opening week, Detroit quickly alleviated any initial concerns surrounding the numerous moving parts they had this offseason by putting up 52 points on Sunday.

We saw the Lions and John Morton get back to the style of football they played under Ben Johnson.

Goff was under center for 61.8% of his dropbacks after a 41.5% rate in Week 1.

They used pre-snap motion on 62.1% of his dropbacks (51.2% in Week 1).

He used play action on 46.4% (28.2% in Week 1).

Goff ended with 334 passing yards and 5 touchdowns.

Now, they have to go back on the road against a more formidable opponent.

We won’t expect the same results.

I don’t expect things to look as bad as they were in Week 1, but Goff is more of a boom-or-bust QB2.

This could be a high-scoring environment, so there is a path to upside.

However, we also have to combat Goff’s road splits against a defense that has played more good football than bad to open the season.

Since joining Detroit, Goff has completed 65.3% of his passes for 7.2 Y/A with a 3.7% touchdown rate in outdoor road games (13.7 fantasy points per game) compared to a 69.8% completion rate, 7.8 Y/A, and a 6.6% touchdown rate at home (20.1 fantasy points per game).

The Baltimore defense has been as advertised outside of one jailbreak fourth quarter against Josh Allen.

They held Allen to 5.7 yards per pass attempt through three quarters in Week 1.

They then allowed 4.5 yards per pass attempt in Week 2, albeit with a significant grain of salt against the Browns.

Running Back

Derrick Henry: Henry was held to 23 yards on Sunday, rushing 11 times.

It was the fewest rushing yards he has had in a game since joining the Ravens.

Week 2 was a bottom-rung outcome we have not seen often enough to cause alarm, but it is a reminder that Henry’s archetype does have a low fantasy floor when he runs cold.

A good receiving line rarely saves Henry after a bad rushing game.

He had 0 targets on Sunday.

Baltimore has run the football on 54.2% of Henry’s snaps, so he is tied to them running the football.

Fortunately, Henry’s sour rushing games are few and far between.

Baltimore is at home again with another high team total, so scoring upside is back in place for Henry.

Henry will look to get back on track against a Detroit defense that has allowed 4.0 yards per carry to running backs (16th) with 1.57 yards before contact per rush (24th).

They have allowed a rushing touchdown in each game to the starting back, with 6 runs of 10 or more yards.

Jahmyr Gibbs: Gibbs got back on track Sunday, turning 15 touches into 104 yards and a touchdown.

He rushed 12 times for 94 yards and a score, anchored by a 42-yard run.

He tacked on 3 receptions for 10 yards.

There is some mild concern that Gibbs is still working on a lighter workload than his RB1 peers.

He has been a solid fantasy option sharing work with David Montgomery before, so we are not running and hiding, but it does force Gibbs to remain hyper efficient.

Through two games, Gibbs has only 55.9% and 50% of the backfield touches.

We are catching Detroit in a spot where they should be pushed to score and could be chasing points.

If this game plays out as implied, Gibbs has an extra out through receiving work.

He has been on the field for 59.7% of the dropbacks compared to only 27.8% for Montgomery.

That insulation gives him a higher floor as a fantasy option, even though we are holding back ceiling expectations.

Baltimore has allowed some chunk gains on the ground to open the year, so the running game could be better than expected as well.

The Ravens have allowed 4.7 YPC to running backs (23rd) with only a 50% success rate (32nd) against running back runs.

They have allowed a first down or touchdown on 27.8% of those attempts (30th).

Yards after contact have been an early issue.

Running backs are averaging 1.14 yards before contact per rush (15th) but 3.53 yards after contact per rush (26th).

David Montgomery: Montgomery turned 12 touches into 61 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.

This game was set up as a Monty-special, and he still barely came out as an RB2/FLEX.

The Lions scored 52 points, never trailed, and he was the RB24 in scoring on the week.

We have to have some concern for him as a touchdown-dependent fantasy option, especially on the road as an underdog.

Montgomery has had a slight dip in route rate (27.8%) and has been more reliant on rushing and scoring output than Gibbs has.

The silver lining is that he has out touched Gibbs 4 to 1 inside the 10-yard line, and this game environment could provide scoring opportunities.

Wide Receiver

Amon-Ra St. Brown: After a quiet Week 1, St. Brown roared back in Week 2, catching 9 of 11 targets for 115 yards and 3 touchdowns.

We noted Goff’s home and away splits earlier.

St. Brown has a dip that accompanies those, but it is not as pronounced as it is for Goff.

In those outdoor games, St. brown has averaged 6.3 receptions for 66.1 yards per game (15.7 PPR points per game) compared to 6.8 receptions for 80.6 yards per game at home (18.9 points per game).

Of course, we have the Week 1 stinker fresh in our minds, but even if Detroit fails here, we should not expect such a low outcome to be a regular result when they fall short of expectations.

St. Brown’s target share (25.8%) and anticipating Detroit to have to throw the football to press the scoreboard give him added outs as a volume-based WR1.

St. Brown’s movement inside helps him out not only in terms of target potential, but could also be an added lifeline in this matchup.

He has played 43.2% of his snaps from the slot.

Baltimore is 23rd in points allowed to slot receivers at the start of the year with a 14.3% touchdown rate (31st) compared to ranking 14th in points allowed to receivers on the outside.

Zay Flowers (TRUST): Flowers has opened the season with strong outings of 7-143-1 (9 targets) and 7-75-0 (11 targets).

Through two games, Flowers has 47.4% and 39.3% of the team’s targets with 52.6% and 49.3% of the air yards.

Flowers is already off to the best start of his career.

The only shortcoming last week was that he was not part of Baltimore’s touchdown production.

Getting involved near the end zone is the last hurdle for him to jump.

He does not have a target in the red zone yet and only has 1 of the 5 team targets on throws into the end zone.

In 2024, Flowers ranked WR48 in red zone points and WR52 in expected points.

Flowers had only 7 red zone targets (11.5% of the team total) and 5 end zone targets in the red zone (15.2%).

While we hope that takes shape moving forward, we always look at Flowers for spike potential against opponents who play aggressive defense.

Since the start of last season, Flowers has been targeted on 28% of his routes against man coverage with a team-high 27.2% of the targets (2.68 yards per route).

To open this season, he has been targeted on 34.5% of his routes against man coverage, catching 7 of 10 targets for 107 yards (3.69 yards per route).

Jameson Williams: Williams delivered the most Jameson Williams stat line in Week 2, catching two passes for 108 yards.

Williams had a 64-yard catch and run on his first reception, weaving through traffic and crossing the field before being brought down short of the end zone.

He then got behind the defense for a 44-yard strike for his first touchdown of the season.

Despite offseason reports suggesting Williams would challenge St. Brown for primary targets and make a jump, we have not seen that play out early this season.

Williams has seen just 13.2% and 14.3% of the targets.

We are still early in the year, so there is time for him to get more involved, but we just had a 52-point game where he only had 2 receptions and 4 targets.

He made them count and always carries that ability to turn in a big play, but I am not ready to elevate him as a locked-in WR2 yet.

In this spot, he is a boom-or-bust WR3/FLEX.

The good news is that Williams has been on the field for every passing play so far this season.

The bad news here is that he is playing 76.3% of his snaps out wide.

Baltimore has allowed a 54.6% catch rate (7th) and 6.9 yards per target (12th) to outside receivers to open the year.

They were shredded in the fourth quarter by the Buffalo wideouts in Week 1 after a strong start, so we are keeping the lights on.

Rashod Bateman: Bateman has had games of 2-10-0 (4 targets) and 2-15-0 (4 targets) to start the season.

He was banged up coming out of Week 1 and saw a slight dip in playing time.

After running a route on 86.4% of the dropbacks in the opener, Bateman was on the field for 75.8% in Week 2.

That opened the door for some of the ancillary pieces to get opportunities.

Bateman remains a touchdown-dependent fantasy option best suited for single-game DFS.

DeAndre Hopkins: Hopkins has only 4 receptions through two games, but 3 of them have been splash plays.

He had 2 catches on Sunday.

The first was a 41-yard reception ruled down at the one-yard line.

His second was a 23-yard touchdown strike.

Hopkins ran only 7 pass routes in the game, so we are only throwing him into single-game DFS lineups as a touchdown-or-bust option.

Isaac TeSlaa: TeSlaa made another highlight-reel catch on Sunday, pulling in a one-handed grab on the sideline for 29 yards.

That said, he still only has 1 target in each game so far.

After running 3 routes in Week 1, he did run 11 routes on Sunday, but that also came in a blowout.

Even in single-game DFS, TeSlaa is a thin punt play.

Devontez Walker & Tylan Wallace: Both of these guys got into the end zone last week, but it is hard to chase those scores.

Walker caught 2 touchdowns, giving him 3 touchdowns on 3 career receptions.

Take that, Cris Carter.

Walker only ran 5 routes in the game.

Wallace did run 16 routes, but only had 2 targets, his first opportunities of the early season.

Bateman was banged up entering the week, so those players received a bit of run, but not enough to latch onto any floor.

If Isaiah Likely returns on Monday, we could see some pullback in the rate of 11 personnel the Ravens use, as well.

Tight End

Sam LaPorta: LaPorta was the one Lion who did not get in on the fun last week, catching 3 of 4 targets for 26 yards.

LaPorta did leave the game for a bit with an injury, but he was able to return after we saw a Brock Wright touchdown.

LaPorta is a TE1 every week, given the landscape at the position, and the Ravens have allowed some production to tight ends through two games.

Baltimore has allowed 2.38 fantasy points per target to tight ends, 29th in the league.

Tight ends have caught 16 of 17 targets for 185 yards and a touchdown.

Mark Andrews: It has been a slow start for Andrews, catching only 2 passes for 7 yards over the opening two games.

We went the opening month last year before Andrews showed signs of life, but the fact that Isaiah Likely has been out and he has still barely been involved is a cause for concern.

Andrews has been on the field for 72.7% and 78.8% of the dropbacks.

He has seen 5.3% and 10.7% of the team’s targets.

Andrews did have a potential touchdown grab punched out last week, but that would have barely elevated him for fantasy had he secured it.

Likely is now closer to returning to the lineup.

Andrews is a touchdown-or-bust option right now until he gets more involved in the base offense, something that will be compromised if Likely can dress for Monday night.

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