Lamar Jackson Fantasy: Start or Sit Ravens QB in Week 9?

Getty Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been a fantasy football revelation this year, ranking second in the league in scoring, regardless of position, through the first eight weeks of the 2019 NFL season.

However, Jackson will be faced with his toughest matchup to date, as he and his Ravens teammates will be welcoming the New England Patriots and their stellar defense into town.

Will a matchup with a defensive unit on pace to go down in history as one of the best in league history be enough to deter you from starting an otherwise must-start fantasy option at quarterback on Sunday? Let’s discuss.

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Lamar Jackson’s Fantasy Outlook vs. New England Patriots

Lamar Jackson has wowed in his second NFL season. In the midst of helping lead his Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North standings, Jackson has won the hearts of fantasy owners around the world thanks to his improved passing abilities to go along with his already standout rushing skills, making him the preeminent dual-threat quarterback in all of fantasy football.

However, while Jackson’s talents are unquestioned, you have to take into consideration that he has seen a dip in production from a passing perspective over the last few weeks. From Week 5 through Week 7 Jackson averaged just 180 passing yards, including failing to eclipse 161 passing yards in two of those three games. Over that span, Jackson accounted for just one lone passing touchdown, while tossing three interceptions.

The last time we saw Jackson perform may have been arguably the worst game of his career from a passing perspective, even rivaling his playoff performance against the Chargers from a season ago. In fact, from a pure statistical basis, it was worse. Prior to his Week 8 bye, Jackson completed just nine of 20 pass attempts against the Seattle Seahawks, for a completion percentage of just 45. The former Lousiville Cardinal also put the ball on the ground twice in that game but was fortunate enough that his team was able to recover the ball both times.

Oddly enough, that performance did not capture headlines the way Jackson’s more standout performances have this season, likely because the Ravens came away victorious. However, Baltimore may not find themselves as lucky this week as they’ll face off with an undefeated New England Patriots team. More importantly for Jackson’s fantasy sake, they face a vaunted Patriots defense.

No team has been less welcoming to opposing quarterbacks this season than the Patriots, allowing an average of just 7.12 fantasy points. In fact, since Week 1, they’ve held five of their seven opposing signal-callers to a putrid 3.33 fantasy points. Certainly a far cry from Jackson’s 25.8 points per game. It’s also worth noting that the Pats have held every quarterback they’ve faced off with this season to 26 rushing yards or less. While none of them may present the same matchup nightmare that Jackson does with his feet, players such as Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, Colt McCoy, and Baker Mayfield all offer varying levels of above-average rushing ability from the QB position.


Should You Start or Sit Lamar Jackson in Week 9?

It’s not far fetched to claim that Jackson will leave Week 9 with the most fantasy points the Patriots defense has surrendered to a quarterback this season, likely due to his running prowess. However, even accomplishing that would mean racking up just slightly above 12 fantasy points.

If you have no other option than Jackson, then roll with him. Fantasy owners have lived and died by far worst talents over the years. However, if you have a QB such as Josh Allen, or even Derek Carr sitting on your waiver wire, I would rather opt to stream a player with a more generous matchup, than put myself through the likely scenario of pulling my hair out of my scalp for 60 minutes straight as I watch the Patriots defense feast on Jackson and the Ravens offense.

* Check out our QB Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems for this week to get a better idea of how to best replace Jackson in your lineup.

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