Let’s state what should be obvious: Lamar Jackson is the best player in fantasy football. In 2024, he followed an NFL MVP season with the highest fantasy (non-PPR) scoring season. Of all time. Like, ever. He outscored the second-highest scorer, fellow quarterback Josh Allen (the 18th-highest scoring season) by over 50 points. Jackson now owns two of the five highest-scoring fantasy seasons. Ever.
So, should you spend a high draft pick on fantasy’s best player?
Lamar Jackson 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook
Jackson’s Rise
There are certainly multiple elements that go into Lamar’s emergence as one of the best fantasy players ever. The addition of Derrick Henry gives defenses another elite player to focus on. The second year in offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s system. His own development as a player and maturity as he moves into his late-20s.
Whether Lamar Jackson is the best fantasy player is less important than whether he is the most valuable fantasy player. Now we’re introducing dynamics that go beyond raw scoring. Value over the next player at his position, value over the replacement-level player at that position, and value of the position are all important considerations we need to factor in when making a draft pick.
Spending Draft Capital on Your Fantasy QB
Quarterback is the highest and most consistent scoring position in fantasy football, assuming traditional scoring rules. In Superflex and other formats that start multiple quarterbacks, Jackson should be, at a minimum, a top-two pick. End of discussion. But in single quarterback formats, what is the value of a quarterback, and what is the value of an elite quarterback?
For 2025, there are a lot of fantasy-starting caliber quarterbacks. A lot. I believe there are 30 fantasy-usable quarterbacks in the league. The Giants and the Saints feel like the only team quarterback situations I would actively shy away from. We may be looking at a golden age of fantasy quarterbacking, so we’ll need to know how to attack such an important position going forward.
Many will say that with so many usable quarterbacks, you should wait on the position. They’ll say if there’s no meaningful difference in the projection of QBs 5-12, why not wait and get the last one of that tier? I’ll tell you why. Because if everybody’s good, I want great. Their argument ignores the potential of the elites, who just happen to be the highest scoring players. Sure, you’re just as good at the position as the majority of the league, but you’re bleeding weekly scoring to the teams that have elite quarterbacks. In a format where you’re looking for marginal advantages, do you want to be giving up points to the highest, most consistent scoring position? I didn’t think so.
We break down all the Ravens in our latest video!
Conclusion
In seasons where there is a meaningful difference in the projections for QB5 (proxy for the first QB outside the elite tier) through QB12, then waiting on quarterback can make sense. The second-tier quarterbacks have a projection advantage over the lower tiers, and the lower-tier QBs traditionally require such low draft capital that you can build up other positions and hope for a late-round QB breakout. But in a season where there’s no significant difference in the projections of Baker Mayfield and Drake Maye…and Jordan Love…and J.J. McCarthy, you should be looking to rise above those players and have an elite projection in your lineup.
Now, the late-QB drafters will inevitably say ‘What about Baker Mayfield last year, or Dak Prescott in 2023? Of course, there will almost certainly be a pocket QB who spikes a rando big passing TD season that gets them onto the fringe of the top-tier QBs’ scoring level. But is it predictable? Anyone who called both Dak’s 2023 season and Baker’s elite season last year, please feel free to DM me your QB projections for this season. Otherwise, I think I’ll stick with drafting the elites at the most important position. Lamar Jackson just happens to be the elite of the elite.
Looking for your favorite team? This link will take you to the rest of our 2025 Look Inside team previews.
A Look Inside the Baltimore Ravens
Editor’s Note: While this article focuses on Lamar Jackson in fantasy football, we don’t want to leave you hanging on the rest of the team. Here is a quick look at the other fantasy-relevant Ravens from Joel Wirth.
I’m done projecting the cliff or any touch-based regression for this guy. He’s not normal, and we need to stop acting like he is.
Again, not projecting a Henry breakdown, but he wasn’t used much in the passing game. Hill gets the Ravens’ hurry-up and obvious pass-down snaps.
One of these years, Flowers is going to spike a significant touchdown season and be among the valuable fantasy players relative to draft capital investment. Unless and until that happens, he’s good, not great.
The inverse Zay Flowers. If he had Flowers’ volume to go with his TD scoring capabilities, he’d be a league winner. Flowers scoring a bunch of TDs is more likely to happen than Bateman becoming a volume hog.
He’s 33 and did literally nothing with Patrick Mahomes last year when the Chiefs were begging for any receiver to step forward into the Rashee Rice void. Time to move on.
Speaking of touchdown makers…Once fully recovered from his 2023 ankle injury, he was back to his old self, scoring 11 TDs in the Ravens’ last 12 games. The divisional playoff game was a disaster, but the Ravens are trying to win a Super Bowl. He’s not getting traded.
The foot injury could put him on the Mark Andrews 2024 trajectory. There’s a breakout coming, but don’t expect much for the first month or so of the season.
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Also, check out where Lamar Jackson falls in our 2025 Fantasy Football Rankings!
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