Baltimore — If there were no unanswered questions heading into Lamar Jackson’s NFL season, something would not feel quite right. For the first six seasons that Jackson was the quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, critics have debated about a variety of topics, including Jackson’s durability, playing style, and contract value.
Last season, Jackson made great strides in quieting the doubters. He led the Ravens to a 13-4 record and the top seed in the AFC after personally negotiating a five-year, $260 million contract deal in the spring of 2023. They made it to the conference title game, but the Kansas City Chiefs defeated them by a touchdown. Subsequently, he secured MVP status for the second season in his professional life, making history as the 11th repeat winner in the league.
As Jackson approaches Year 7 and the Ravens attempt to snap an 11-year Super Bowl drought, the questions remain. However, for once, the concerns center more on Jackson’s environment than on his skills.
Has Baltimore provided Jackson with the best weapons possible to actually trade blows with rivals Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes and help the Ravens overcome their obstacles?
tense conclusion Mark Andrews presents a nightmare matchup for almost any safety or linebacker put in his path. Jackson’s workload should also be lessened by the offseason addition of Derrick Henry, the undisputed running back king.
However, the Ravens have had trouble hitting on their wide receiver projections and talent assessments for years, both in the draft and in free agency. The 2021 first-round pick Rashod Bateman appears most comfortable as a No. 2, and Marquise Brown, the 2019 first-round pick, is currently on his third team. They paid $15 million guaranteed to sign an Odell Beckham Jr. who was past his prime the previous season. In 14 games, he had three touchdown catches on 565 yards.
But, there is hope that perhaps, just possibly, the Ravens have located Jackson’s much-needed go-to player—Zay Flowers, a 5-foot-9, 182-pound human joystick—as the Batman to his Batman.
Flowers led the Ravens in first downs (41) yards after the catch (391), receiving yards (858), and catches (77) as a rookie out of Boston College in the previous season. These totals broke all previous marks for rookie receiving by the team.
Like Jackson, Flowers was a native of South Florida, so they clicked right away, and there was clear trust between them and their quarterback. Jackson targeted Flowers 108 times, almost twice as frequently as he did any other wide receiver. Jackson knew Flowers well from his days playing against some of the older brothers of Flowers.
Because of his quickness, vision, and elusiveness, Flowers was excellent in space and frequently converted fast passes into chain-moving gains.
“It was pretty easy,” Jackson said of the connection developed with Flowers last season. “I’m seeing him attack the ball, (and) I’m seeing him when the cornerback has outside leverage on an out-breaking route, he’s dropping him, and he’s winning. … He’s had my trust. Him catching the ball and doing what he does, that’s all a quarterback wants.”
El QB de los Ravens Lamar Jackson manteniendo esa buena conexión con su WR Zay Flowers mientras se encuentran en Florida.#VamosRavens #RavensFlock
— David Andrade (@DavidAndrade82) May 31, 2024
🎥: via/SpenceFit IG pic.twitter.com/S2RqrtcAHh
Flowers recorded five receptions for a career-high 115 yards and a score in the AFC Championship Game. He also had one 100-yard game (in Week 17). That performance was overshadowed by a goal-line fumble in the fourth quarter when Flowers attempted to stretch for the end zone on a play that would have reduced Kansas City’s lead. Rather, Flowers dropped the ball, and Kansas City recovered it for a touchback after Chiefs safety L’Jarius Sneed punched it out of his hand. The fumble came after Flowers was given a taunting penalty, which led to the NFL fining him $10,927 for being unsportsmanlike. Ravens defeat, 17–10.
That game came after an alleged domestic abuse incident on January 16 that prompted a police investigation into Flowers. After the investigation was concluded by Baltimore County Police in February, Flowers was not charged and the NFL declined to sanction Flowers.
Six months later, with the Ravens getting ready for another campaign, Flowers is aware of the high standards set for him. It has been difficult for Baltimore to find a perimeter threat who can win one-on-ones, extend the field, and light up the scoreboard with home run plays. Jackson only had one wide receiver with 1,000 yards in the previous six seasons (2021). On 91 catches that season, Brown—who is currently with the Chiefs—had 1,008 yards and six touchdowns. (Andrews added 1,361 receiving yards in 2021 at tight end.)
Flowers notes that the records for rookie receptions are nice. However, he acknowledges that he has a lot of space to improve. He is aware of his areas of weakness and his potential for improvement. Flowers therefore feels that the strain he puts on himself is greater than any pressure that may come from outside expectations.
“I don’t look at last year like a great year for me,” the 23-year-old Flowers said after a recent training camp practice. “I feel like it’s just a year for me to just get better off of and something for me to measure myself. That was my first time in the league. So now that I know what it’s like, I feel like I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Flowers understands the path to greatness.
“You have to be dedicated to your craft and you’ve got to want to get better,” he said. “You’ve got to be willing to be coachable. Honestly, it’s just about putting in work every day. Just being who you want to be. I go out every day, putting in work on small details like route running, high-pointing the ball; all small things that make you a great receiver. And that’s what I’m still trying to become.”
Fantasy Football 2024
Get the professional analysis and all the information you need to win your fantasy football league by picking up The Athletic 2024 Fantasy Football Guide.
To read professional assessments, pick up The Athletic 2024 Fantasy Football Guide.
Flowers approaches his quest for improvement in a somewhat different way. He grew up idolizing Dante Hall, Steve Smith, and Davante Adams, calling the latter “the original Human Joystick.”
However, he claims that it has been years since he looked at other wide receivers as role models on how to get better. Rather than that, he studies practice footage or his own game to gain greater insight into his triumphs and shortcomings as well as how to improve the things that work and eliminate the things that don’t.
And Flowers looked beyond football games for inspiration and models of how to approach his craft when he first started looking for them.
“I watched my dad. He showed me a different way. Like, my dad went to work every day, but he was always consistent in what he did,” Flowers said of Willie Flowers, who as a widowed father of 14 drove a truck for a medical device company. “He had 14 kids and we were always on time to practice. … We were never late for anything with him and he was always on point. Seeing him having to get up, wash clothes and do all this stuff, it just brought it to my awareness and now I bring that to what I love to do.”
Flowers beamed while declaring that his father no longer needs to work. His commitment to his team hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“He’s a guy that every day comes in with enthusiasm unknown to mankind, and he gives it everything he’s got with a great attitude and a high work ethic,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s always talking ball. To me, that process pays off, and when does it pay off? I guess when the opportunity comes. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”
Flowers wants to improve as an accurate and efficient route runner by learning more about defensive backs’ patterns and pass coverages. Additionally, he thinks that going into the season, he will know better how to respond when plays go wrong, which will make him even more dependable for Jackson when the quarterback is under pressure. In order to give the Ravens’ offense greater explosiveness, Flowers also expects that Jackson and him will have more opportunities to connect on downfield shots.
“I’m just working hard on my deep-ball skills, working on my competitive catches,” Flowers said. “Like I said, all of the little things … that’s what it takes, and what we need for us to achieve our goal as a team.”
Jackson has led the Ravens for many years during the regular season, yet his club consistently fails miserably when it mattered most. Flowers could be the missing piece to Baltimore’s championship puzzle if he can improve his performance to the point where he can produce like a genuine No. 1 wide receiver.
(Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)
