Lamar Jackson: returning Sunday against Buffalo after three games
THE FACT. Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said Friday that Baltimore expects to have quarterback Lamar Jackson available Sunday against the Bills, ending a three-game absence that began with the high ankle sprain he suffered in Week 4, per NFL.com. Jackson practiced in full all week. Yahoo Sports, covering the same Friday session, also had him expected back barring a setback.
THE VERDICT. Start him everywhere. Redraft: he returns as a top-tier fantasy quarterback, and the matchup helps. CBS Sports notes Buffalo's defense is conceding roughly 28.5 points per game, the third-highest figure in the league. Dynasty: nothing here alters his standing. DFS: a strong play, though the market will reprice a Jackson return quickly, so the leverage is thinner than the matchup suggests. If you streamed quarterbacks through his absence, that player goes to the bench or back to the waiver pool.
Love the site, but I'm not treating this as plug-and-play. Jackson said himself the ankle still hurts when he plants and called the pain bearable, and that's not a guy I'm banking on to take off and run in Orchard Park. His QB1 ceiling is the legs, and the first game back from a high ankle sprain is usually when the designed runs get dialed back. He's also 2-4 lifetime against Allen and the Bills. I'll start him if I have no choice, but in DFS he's a fade for me, not a strong play.