Zay Flowers has spent the first month of the season doing far too much of the heavy lifting in Baltimore’s passing game, and Sunday night may force the Ravens to get even more inventive about how they feed him.
With Lamar Jackson out this week and possibly next week too, the Ravens are turning to Snoop Huntley, and the gap between those two quarterbacks shows up fast when the ball has to travel downfield. Flowers has been a different player with Jackson than he has with Huntley: 14.4 yards per reception, 7.5 yards after the catch per catch and 10.12 air yards per target with Jackson, compared with 6.5 yards per reception, 2.4 yards after the catch per catch and 6.39 air yards per target with Huntley.
That’s why rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has to keep working to manufacture touches for Flowers against an Atlanta defense that is creating problems everywhere. The Falcons are stuffing the run without extra help and generating the NFL’s highest pressure rate without blitzing. That’s a tough combination, especially for an offense already dealing with offensive line issues and a run game that has gone cold.
Flowers has been in motion 27% of the time this season, up from around 24% last year under Todd Monken, and more of that movement makes sense now. The Ravens are unlikely to get much from straight deep shots with Huntley, so getting Flowers moving before bubble screens, and using the threat of jet sweeps or end-arounds, feels like a natural adjustment.
The slot still matters, too. Flowers has lined up there for 60% of his reps this season, nearly doubling his career average, and Atlanta’s weakness inside should matter to Doyle.
The Falcons are without their best cover corner in AJ Terrell, who is on IR, and teams have already attacked them there. Opposing quarterbacks have produced a 72.9 rating on slot throws against Atlanta with a 52% completion rate, while outside throws have gone for a 114.7 rating and a 70% completion rate.
That leaves Flowers as a player Baltimore still needs on crossers, but also one who should be used with a clear eye on where Atlanta has been vulnerable. He has lined up in the backfield four times this season, which is already twice as many as all of last year, and that usage could grow Sunday night. The Ravens may want him on designed sprints behind the tackles or wheel routes out of pony looks with Derrick Henry or Justice Hill on the field, and even a Wild Cat look or two could be part of the mix.
Baltimore’s run game is still going to lean hard on Henry, especially against a Falcons defense allowing just 2.7 yards per carry. But with Huntley at quarterback, the Ravens may need a different kind of creativity to keep the offense moving. The ground game may help them control the clock and keep the score tight, but it may not create much explosion on its own.
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Zay Flowers Update Leaves Ravens Fans Focused On One Bigger Concern
Zay Flowers remains a central part of Baltimores passing game heading into Week 5, even as his availability has been a concern for much of the early season. The rookie receiver is listed as questionable against the Falcons because of a foot injury, but he has still managed to top 300 receiving yards in limited snaps, a reminder of how much the Ravens have leaned on him when hes been on the field.
For a team already navigating injuries, the bigger issue is the shape of the offense around him. Lamar Jackson is sidelined, which leaves Baltimore searching for stability under center and puts more pressure on the receivers to help carry the load. Flowers status matters, but so does how effective he can be if the Ravens are forced to lean on a different rhythm and a different quarterback than the one they expected to build around. [Read more 🡒]
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Helping matters along will mean contributions from some less obvious places, starting with Purdy and a few other players whose roles suddenly matter more. A second-year defender working his way back from a torn ACL and rookie tight end Nick Vannett are both part of the equation, while the Ravens also need edge help to make up for the absence of Trey Hendrickson and keep Atlanta from dictating the game on the ground. [Read more 🡒]