Lamar Jackson was drafted in fantasy football leagues as one of the first few quarterbacks off the board.
Lately, the Baltimore Ravens' superstar hasn't been playing anything like that.
Sunday's game against the New York Jets was supposed to be a spot for a big offensive day, and instead, Jackson did very little.
At this point, writes ESPN's Bill Barnwell, it's hard to even view Jackson as a QB1.
"Jackson must be started in case he goes nuclear, but he's not even simmering now," Barnwell writes. "He had 153 passing yards, 11 rushing yards and no touchdowns Sunday against the Jets. Jackson has fallen short of 20 rushing yards in half of his games and hasn't rushed for more than 48 since Week 1. The Ravens are winning and have a soft schedule the rest of the way, so they could just lean on running back Derrick Henry and keep using Jackson as a point guard."
Barnwell's first point there is the main difficulty when a guy like Jackson goes into a cold spell. How do you sit him? He's liable to have a week-winning game at any time.
At least, that's usually the case. Maybe this version of Jackson is different.
He missed time earlier this season with a hamstring injury, and he has since missed practice each of the past two Wednesdays, first with knee soreness and then with an ankle problem.
The Ravens may have decided to take things a bit easier on their usually mobile QB in the interests of completing this climb back to the top of the AFC North.
Jackson's importance to Baltimore far outweighs the real-life push for any kind of stats for him. The Ravens just want to win.
It just means fantasy football managers who were counting on Jackson may be in a tough spot, with no obvious solution.
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