Jacoby Brissett Traded To Ravens: Fantasy Football Fallout For Zay Flowers, Derrick Henry & More

Well, this just felt obvious.

In Baltimore, both Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley suffered season-ending injuries on Sunday. And in Arizona, Jacoby Brissett was benched for Gardner Minshew. Most people connected the dots that the Ravens should/would trade for the veteran signal caller.

It didn’t take long.

Ravens Trade For Jacoby Brissett

The Ravens are finalizing a deal to send Brissett to Baltimore. Because the Ravens play on Thursday this week, we will see rookie Joe Fagnano for one start before the trade is finalized over the weekend. Brissett wasn’t exactly playing well with the Cardinals this season, ranking outside the top 20 quarterbacks in red zone completion rate, pressured completion rate, deep ball completion rate, and catchable pass rate. But we have a large sample size of Brissett being able to support strong fantasy seasons from his pass-catchers, which is really what we care about.

Zay Flowers Fantasy Football Outlook With Jacoby Brissett

Zay Flowers is coming off a zero-catch game against the Bills, as he struggled to get anything going once Fagnano was thrust into action. We’ve definitely been robbed of a truly elite wide receiver season, as Flowers has only run 46 routes with Lamar Jackson on the field. On those routes, Flowers has caught 16 of 20 targets (43% TPRR) for 353 yards and two touchdowns. He was going to return close to first-round fantasy value.

That isn’t going to happen with Brissett, but it is going to help make sure this doesn’t become a disastrous season. We also saw Flowers average 10.3 targets, 7.3 receptions, 85.3 yards, and 18.3 PPR PPG in Huntley’s four starts.

Declan Doyle’s scheme has made Flowers less quarterback-reliant, so Brissett just has to be serviceable for him to flirt with top-12 production. Flowers is moving all around the formation, seeing designed screens, looks out of the backfield, etc. That won’t change, and Brissett should be able to, at the very least, sustain drives for the Ravens. I still have Flowers as more of a strong WR2 at the moment, but the arrival of Brissett gives him a legitimate chance at returning to WR1 status.

What Is Derrick Henry's Fantasy Football Value With Jacoby Brissett?

Derrick Henry, meanwhile, doesn’t see quite the same bump, but this definitely doesn’t hurt things.

The appeal with Henry is always volume and touchdowns. Baltimore should continue to lean on him, but without Jackson, this team is a lot more likely to trail in games, while also seeing fewer scoring opportunities. And while he’ll be the unquestioned goal-line option, it wouldn't surprise me to see Brissett, someone who has always been used on quarterback sneaks, score from a yard out once or twice.

Always a game script-dependent option, Henry finds himself more likely to be chasing points, but Brissett's arrival does give this entire offense a bit safer of a floor.