Ravens vs. Colts Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 1

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 1 matchup between the Colts and Ravens.

Find a breakdown of every Week 1 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Ravens vs. Colts Fantasy Quarterback Preview

Lamar Jackson

Jackson still ended 2025 with strong stats, throwing for 8.4 yards per pass attempt (his third straight season with at least 8.0 yards per attempt), 21 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.

But it was an uneven year with extreme highs and lows.

Through four weeks, Jackson completed 71.6% of his passes for 9.1 Y/A with 10 touchdowns and 1 interception.

At that point in the year, Jackson had logged three top-five scoring weeks and was the QB2 in overall scoring.

He then suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him until Week 9.

Returning in Week 9, Jackson threw 4 touchdowns in a win against a feeble Miami pass defense.

Then things took a turn.

Over his final eight starts, Jackson was the QB29 in fantasy points per game (11.9).

He completed just 57.6% of his passes (28th) with 7 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

He had the highest inaccurate throw rate in the league over that span (15.8%).

22.3% of his dropbacks resulted in a loss of -1.0 EPA or worse, which was ahead of only Shedeur Sanders (22.9%) and Geno Smith (23.2%).

The mounting injuries also prevented Jackson from utilizing his legs.

He ran for a career-low 26.8 yards per game last year.

His previous low as a starter was 51.3 rushing yards per game.

Jackson averaged only 2.2 designed runs per game.

His previous low was 4.4 designed runs per game.

Over the first four games before any issues, Jackson rushed for 166 yards in games of 70, 13, 35, and 48 yards.

He then ran for 183 yards the rest of the way.

Jackson dealt with hamstring, back, knee, ankle, and toe issues that regularly kept him out of practice, and he also missed one more game in Week 17.

He has played in more than 13 games in a season only twice since 2021.

We can expect Jackson to run more than he did to close last year, but gamers still have to deal with Derrick Henry‘s presence potentially capping Jackson's upside in the touchdown department on the ground.

Since adding Henry, Jackson has had only 1 rushing attempt inside the five-yard line.

Henry has 42.

We do not know the full truth about what was going on behind the scenes last year, but there also appeared to be a schism between Jackson and the coaching staff.

Whether there was something larger going on under the surface between Jackson and John Harbaugh or Todd Monken, the Ravens have gone in a new direction this season, bringing in Jesse Minter as head coach and Declan Doyle as the offensive coordinator.

Doyle spent most of his career as an offensive coach under Sean Payton and is coming off his first stint as an offensive coordinator under Ben Johnson in Chicago last year.

Doyle's addition could lead to more snaps for Jackson under center, which were already rising and helped him take off under Monken.

Jackson's under-center rate has risen from 13.4% to 16.6%, then 29.1%, and finally 32.9% over the past four seasons.

When under center over that span, Jackson led the NFL with a 74.7% completion rate while averaging 9.2 yards per pass attempt (QB5) and a league-high 11.2% touchdown rate.

This game is indoors and could be high-scoring, giving Jackson plenty of upside as a QB1.

The Ravens' primary offensive concern as they adapt to the new scheme is the offensive line.

That may not be a major issue here if the Colts didn't fix their lack of pass rush from a year ago.

Arden Key was the only primary addition up for the Colts, so that remains a question mark.

In 2025, the Colts were 23rd in pressure rate (34.2%) despite blitzing at the 12th-highest rate (27.7%).

When the Colts blitzed, they had a 40.1% pressure rate, which ranked 24th in the league.

Overall, the Colts were 21st in the league in passing points allowed per game (15.0).

The Colts did have plenty of injuries to account for, so apply any necessary grains of salt.

DeForest Buckner missed seven games.

Charvarius Ward missed 10.

Sauce Gardner only played in four games after his trade to Indy.

Daniel Jones

Jones had a career year with the Colts last season, setting career highs in completion percentage (68%), yards per pass attempt (8.1), yards per completion (11.9), success rate (52%), and rating (100.2).

He threw 19 touchdowns, his most in a season since throwing 24 as a rookie in 2019.

50% of Jones's red-zone throws into the end zone resulted in touchdowns, the highest rate of his career.

His previous high was 40%.

He then suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week 14 (while playing on a fractured leg), missing the rest of the season.

Jones has been active since the start of training camp with no restrictions, but we still want to see him come out and prove himself 100%.

His Achilles injury was on his right side, which is his plant foot.

The last time we saw this was with Kirk Cousins, who struggled with mobility and with pushing the ball downfield.

Jones has already been a volatile player for fantasy.

He opened last season extremely hot.

The Colts were 7-1 over the opening eight games of last season.

Jones had completed 71.2% of his passes (3rd in the league) for 8.5 yards per pass attempt (3rd), a 5.3% touchdown rate (15th), and a 1.2% interception rate (7th).

He led the NFL with a 53.2% success rate over that stretch.

The team then went 1-3 over Jones' next four full games.

He completed 61.9% of his passes (17th), averaged 7.3 Y/A (11th), and posted a 4.5% touchdown rate (17th) in those games, with a 3% interception rate (24th) and 7 fumbles.

Because this offense was so dominant to open last season, Jones is a boom-or-bust QB2.

Minter takes over a Baltimore defense that was battered last season.

With the Chargers over the past two seasons, Minter's defenses were seventh and fifth in passing yards allowed.

His defenses have been predicated on limiting big plays.

Over the past two seasons, the Chargers played the lowest rate of man coverage in the league (14.4%).

Only Minnesota played Cover 1 at a lower rate (7.2%) than the Chargers (8.1%) over the past two seasons under Minter.

The Chargers played Cover 4 at the third-highest rate (19.9%).

Playing coverage helped them limit big plays, allowing a 20-plus-yard pass on 7.5% of attempts, the seventh-lowest in the league.

Minter is inheriting arguably a more talented defense in Baltimore, but Jones and this offense gave Minter's Los Angeles defense all they could handle last year.

The Colts put up 38 points in Los Angeles last season, with Jones completing 23 of 34 passes for 288 yards (8.5 Y/A) and 2 touchdowns.

It was the third-most yards per pass attempt the Chargers allowed last year.

Ravens vs. Colts Fantasy Running Back Preview

More Week 1 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet: