Best Ball Guy said drafters should mentally bump Zay Flowers up their wide-receiver tiers after tight end Isaiah Likely was carted off with a foot/ankle injury that is expected to cost him "a couple to a few weeks." He pointed out that soft-tissue and lower-leg issues often linger, and if Likely’s recovery drags into the season the Ravens will have to lean even harder on their wide-out group opposite Mark Andrews. That scenario would funnel extra routes, short-area targets, and possible red-zone looks to Flowers, making him a more attractive pick in current best-ball drafts.

JJ Zachariason explained why he is mostly fading Zay Flowers at his Round-4 DraftKings ADP. Flowers’ efficiency metrics scream star, yet Baltimore rarely throws near the goal line—John Harbaugh’s offense mirrors the Eagles inside the five and leans on quarterback or running-back rushes. Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely then soak up most of the remaining red-zone targets. That usage left Flowers with only five touchdowns in 2023, even though Lamar Jackson’s passing TD rate was unusually high— a rate JJ expects to regress hard. Because Flowers’ expected touchdowns were low and his role caps high-end volume, JJ views him as a stable WR3 without the ceiling of similarly priced options like George Pickens. He is willing to scoop Flowers only if the speedster falls at least a full round past current ADP.

JJ Zachariason leaned toward fading Zay Flowers in DraftKings best-ball drafts, arguing that Baltimore’s scoring profile throttles Flowers’ touchdown ceiling. The Ravens are "Eagles-esque" inside the five, pounding in rushing TDs rather than targeting wideouts, and Mark Andrews plus Isaiah Likely dominate red-zone looks. Flowers scored just four times last season despite elite efficiency metrics, and JJ expects Lamar Jackson’s 2023 passing-TD rate (6.0%) to regress. That combination leaves Flowers needing a 90-catch season merely to justify his WR20-ish price—volume JJ doubts he sees in an offense that finished 31st in wide-receiver target share. With similarly talented WRs like George Pickens or Jameson Williams available cheaper, Zachariason is underweight on Flowers and willing to let the market chase last year’s yards-per-route-run pop.

Kendall Valenzuela said she’s clicking Zay Flowers most often in the WR29–31 range. Flowers has delivered back-to-back WR3 seasons of 12.8 and 12.3 fantasy points per game despite Baltimore finishing third-from-last in dropbacks in 2024. She referenced Dwain McFarland’s ceiling-floor model that pegs Flowers for an 18.5-point ceiling (a WR1 pace) in his third campaign. Valenzuela views that upside as too good to pass up at his current discount even in a run-heavy scheme.

Best Ball Guy argued that the 4-5 turn duo of Zay Flowers and George Pickens will out-score early-round names like Marvin Harrison Jr. and Tee Higgins once price is factored in. His angle is strictly game-theoretic: at current ADPs you can lock up two ascending second-year talents with every-down roles while still grabbing elite running backs or quarterbacks in the first three rounds. That flexibility, he said, creates more "paths to first" in small-field contests than sinking premium capital into Harrison, whose rookie-year range of outcomes is wider and already baked into an inflated cost.

Erik Beimfohr said Zay Flowers is one of the easiest fifth-round clicks on the board because Baltimore is actively building its pass game around him. Beimfohr dismissed worries about Flowers’ 5-foot-9 frame by pointing to Deontae Johnson and Terry McLaurin as examples of "smaller" receivers who eventually posted double-digit touchdown seasons once volume caught up with talent. He cited John Harbaugh’s pre-camp quote that the offense must "get the ball to Zay Flowers more" and called Flowers the Ravens’ best pass-game player outside of Lamar Jackson. If Baltimore follows through, Beimfohr thinks a 12-TD breakout is firmly in play thanks to Flowers’ first-read chemistry with an MVP-caliber quarterback. The floor is simply a seventh-round value loss (“small miss”), but the ceiling is a league-winning WR2 attached to a top-five offense (“big win”).

Pat Kerrane said Zay Flowers is the true "skeleton key" to Ravens stacks in 2025 drafts. Kerrane loves grabbing Lamar Jackson in the third, then pushing Flowers to the fifth where his 2.25 yards per route run and clear WR1 role make him a smash. The volume knock is baked into price, but Kerrane outlined several ways it could spike: a more pass-centric Todd Monken year-two offense, defensive injuries forcing shootouts, or Derrick Henry missing time and removing Baltimore’s planned run-heavy tilt. If any of those happen, Flowers’ first-read chemistry with an MVP quarterback could yield league-winning production, especially because stacking costs remain cheap—Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and even DeAndre Hopkins are all affordable follow-ups. Kerrane concluded that the fifth round is too late for a first-round talent tied to this ceiling and is upping his exposure accordingly.

Erik Beimfohr said Zay Flowers is the quintessential “small miss, big win” target in Best Ball. Although Flowers is not the prototypical alpha red-zone body, Beimfohr argued that great receivers still stumble into double-digit touchdowns—citing Deontae Johnson’s and Terry McLaurin’s spike seasons—as long as they play with an elite quarterback. John Harbaugh openly admitted the offense has to feed Flowers, calling him their best pass-game weapon outside Lamar Jackson. That mandate plus Flowers’ 2.25 YPRR as a rookie gives him a realistic 140-target, 12-TD ceiling, yet his ADP sits in the mid-fifth round. Beimfohr framed the downside as merely wishing you’d taken him in the seventh, while the upside is a league-winning Ravens stack that buries the field if Todd Monken leans pass-heavy.

Pat Kerrane said Zay Flowers is the "skeleton key" to a high-upside Ravens stack because his current fifth-round ADP lets drafters take Lamar Jackson in the third, grab Flowers two rounds later and still circle back for Mark Andrews or Isaiah Likely at palatable prices. Kerrane pointed out that Flowers posted 2.25 yards per route run in Year 2 and is already Baltimore’s clear No. 1 wideout. If the Ravens lean into the pass—whether because Derrick Henry finally shows age, defensive injuries force shoot-outs, or Todd Monken simply steps on the gas—Flowers has a path to a 140-target season. Kerrane argued that drafters must be "absolutely sure" the volume never spikes, because if it does, a fifth-round Flowers attached to an MVP-caliber quarterback will bury the field. He’s prioritizing Lamar/Flowers starts and then hammering rookies like RJ Harvey or TreVeyon Henderson in the sixth to round out the build.

Kerrane preferred Zay Flowers over Alvin Kamara in the mid-fifth, calling the third-year Raven both safer and higher-ceiling. Flowers owns a first-round pedigree, has been efficient in each of his first two seasons, and projects as the clear No. 1 target in Baltimore. By contrast, Kamara is “definitely dust as a runner” and could be totally washed. In wide-receiver-heavy tournament rooms, Kerrane wants the proven young alpha with a condensed target tree instead of betting on an aging RB who now needs pass-game work to matter.

Nick Whalen argued Zay Flowers’ price (pick 45-55) doesn’t match his week-to-week output. Flowers finished WR25 last year yet posted five games under 6 PPR points and ranked WR36 on a per-game basis. Even with Lamar Jackson tossing a career-best 41 TDs, Flowers scored only four and remained a non-factor inside the 20. Whalen sees no path to a red-zone role while Mark Andrews and the RBs are healthy, making Flowers a volatile FLEX rather than a locked-in WR2. He is out at current ADP.

Tom Strachan recommended the OVER on Zay Flowers’ 5.5 touchdown projection, citing several indicators of looming positive regression. Flowers has commanded the Ravens’ passing attack: a 30 % first-read target share and back-to-back 100-target seasons — a feat only 15 other wideouts have matched. Yet he scored just four TDs last year despite seven end-zone targets, converting only two of them; Strachan flagged that as an obvious outlier. Projections guru Mike Clay pencils Flowers in for seven TDs, and Baltimore returns virtually the same offense that led the NFL in scoring last season. With the Ravens unlikely to throttle down and no competition above a 16 % first-read share, Strachan expects Flowers to land comfortably above the 5.5 benchmark.

Hayden Winks said he can’t click Zay Flowers anywhere he does not already have Lamar Jackson. In Underdog’s half-PPR format, Winks argued Flowers’ profile is ‘at best fine’—a 22 % target-share slot weapon who averaged just 1.69 yards per route run and scored three times all season. Without the correlated quarterback ceiling to goose double-stack weeks, a non-Lamar Flowers pick requires him to outscore projected Round-5 running backs such as Alvin Kamara, Joe Mixon and Kenneth Walker—backs Winks considers some of the best points-over-ADP values on the entire board. His bottom line: in half-PPR you need touchdowns and 30-point quarterback explosions to unlock wide-receiver flex upside; Flowers supplies neither unless he is tethered to Jackson, so Winks is passing at cost in non-Ravens builds.

Tyler Emo Cowboy argued that drafters should be buying Zay Flowers right now because the market is sleeping on a classic third-year leap. He pointed out that Flowers generated the exact same number of deep-ball opportunities as Rashod Bateman last season but simply ran worse on the outcomes, masking how often Todd Monken dialed up vertical looks for him. Emo Cowboy added that Baltimore’s offense is expected to remain top-10 in efficiency, and Flowers has already demonstrated the ability to win downfield and after the catch. With no major target competition beyond an aging Mark Andrews, he believes Flowers’ ADP will climb multiple rounds once summer beat writers start trumpeting the "Year-Three Breakout" narrative. He called Flowers a slam-dunk upside pick in Best Ball Mania drafts while the room still prefers safer veterans in the same range.

Jim Coventry advised fading Zay Flowers at his WR28 price because the Ravens rediscovered their run-first identity down the stretch. Flowers logged 5 games of 18.5+ PPR points in Weeks 1-9, but after Baltimore leaned on Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson out of shotgun, he produced only one 12-point effort from Week 10 on. With a limited pass volume that must be divided among Flowers, Mark Andrews, and Rashod Bateman, Coventry doubts Flowers can provide reliable fantasy output in 2025.

Andy Holloway said he’s "happy to flex Flowers all year long" at the current WR24, Round-5 price tag. Flowers already commanded a 25% target share as a rookie and played every game—his only clunker was a one-target outing versus Tampa Bay. Holloway argued that even a modest two-percentage-point bump in target share, easily attainable in Year 2, would make Flowers a weekly WR2 given Lamar Jackson’s efficiency. With no true target hog behind him and Baltimore’s early schedule featuring shootouts against Buffalo, Detroit and Kansas City, Holloway believes Flowers offers both a safe floor and breakout ceiling at cost.

Nick Whalen thinks Zay Flowers is overpriced at WR27 because his 2024 profile offered more floor than ceiling. Flowers finished as the WR25 overall but was WR36 on a per-game basis, turning in five games below six PPR points and only four true ‘splash’ weeks. Despite Lamar Jackson’s 41-TD career year, Flowers scored just four times and saw only seven red-zone targets—fewer than Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, or Rashod Bateman. With Derrick Henry and Jackson likely soaking up goal-line touches and Baltimore maintaining an egalitarian passing attack, Whalen expects regression in total passing TDs and believes Flowers’ limited scoring opportunities make it hard to pay current ADP.

Pat Kerrane gave a "mini shout-out" to Zay Flowers, arguing his fifth-round price undersells legitimate WR1 potential. Flowers followed a 1.72 YPRR rookie season with 2.25 last year and now enters year three with only an aging Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman standing between him and a 28 % target share. Kerrane acknowledged Baltimore’s run-heavy DNA but noted Lamar Jackson’s career-best 8.0 yards per attempt in Todd Monken’s system and the Ravens’ top-five schedule-adjusted pass-EPA efficiency, calling it "good enough" to fuel a Flowers blow-up. He also highlighted Flowers’ elite first-read share (33 % in Weeks 12-18) and the possibility Andrews cedes snaps to blocker Darnell Washington, freeing even more middle-of-field volume. While Kerrane sees Flowers’ most likely 2025 ADP in the late-second/early-third, he believes there is a plausible path to a Stefon Diggs-style leap if Baltimore’s defense regresses and Monken leans into tempo. That upside makes Flowers a priority in the Round-5 flat tier, especially on Lamar stacks where he functions as a discounted alpha.

Davis Mattek said he is ranking Zay Flowers noticeably below ADP and treating him as a boom-bust WR4 you only sprinkle when stacking Lamar Jackson teams. Mattek’s main gripe is the weekly box-score pain: Flowers ripped off plenty of SportsCenter moments last year, yet finished with just four touchdowns and a string of 4-for-64 type lines that never cracked best-ball starting lineups. Mattek even noted Willie Sneed owns the same single-season TD high (four) in this Ravens offense, underscoring how difficult it is for Baltimore wideouts to deliver big scoring seasons in a low-volume, run-centric scheme. While a "miracle" 10-TD outlier is possible on any Jackson-led team, Mattek believes Flowers’ realistic range of outcomes is more like 1,000 yards and four scores—hardly worth his current sticker price. He is shifting exposure toward cheaper upside swing wideouts and only clicking Flowers when he drifts a full round past ADP.