NFL Week 9 Fantasy Football Recap: Baltimore Ravens vs. New Orleans Saints

• Isaiah Likely scores early: The biggest star of the preseason continued to fill Mark Andrews‘ shoes, scoring the first touchdown of the game.
• Kenyan Drake leads the Ravens backfield: Drake scored the Ravens' second and third touchdowns, as he helped close out the victory with successful fourth-quarter runs.
• Two former Eagles make their season debuts: DeSean Jackson joined their wide receiver rotation while Jordan Howard was a backup running back for the Saints.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Baltimore Ravens @ New Orleans Saints

• Kenyan Drake: 24 carries, 93 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 16 receiving yards
• Chris Olave: 6 receptions, 71 yards

Another week of Kenyan Drake: The Ravens didn’t have Gus Edwards due to a hamstring injury from last week. 

• The backfield rotation was similar to the start of the season, as Drake play a majority of the team's early-down snaps while Justice Hill played the other early-down snaps as well as third downs.
• The main difference between this week and the start of the season is that Mike Davis didn’t rotate in as much.
• The Ravens RBs weren’t all that effective on the ground until the fourth quarter. Drake received double-digit carries in the first three quarters but made several big plays in the fourth quarter to help close out the game.
• Baltimore has its bye week in Week 10, which will hopefully be enough time for Edwards to recover.
• The Ravens are also anticipating J.K. Dobbins‘ return. Coach John Harbaugh said Dobbins is three-to-four weeks away.
• It’s OK to hold onto Drake until there is some good news on Edwards, but he can be cut at that point. He won’t receive enough touches once Edwards is healthy and could be phased out of the offense completely when both injured running backs play.

DeSean Jackson’s Ravens debut: Rashod Bateman landed on injured reserve due to a foot injury and is out for the season, which opened the door for Jackson to join the active roster.

• Jackson served as the team’s fourth receiver, playing in nine of a possible 35 first-half snaps.
• He suffered a hamstring injury early in the third quarter and didn’t return.
• The 35-year-old receiver won’t be a factor in season-long play even if he recovers, as he won’t see enough playing time to be trusted.
• He could be a factor in DFS, as there is always a chance that Jackson makes a deep catch for a touchdown or two.
• Devin Duvernay also has played more snaps with Bateman out. He played a higher percentage of Baltimore's offensive snaps than any other game this season.
• Duvernay is worth a waiver wire target in the 50% of leagues he’s available in, as he could be a more consistent contributor going forward.
• Third-year receiver Binjimen Victor was activated off the practice squad for the first time this season. He received a few snaps in the fourth quarter and could see more going forward if Jackson’s injury is serious.

Isaiah Likely starts at tight end: All-Pro Mark Andrews missed this game due to a knee and shoulder injury, allowing Likely to take the lead role.

• Likely largely took the receiving tight end role, but there were a few snaps that Josh Oliver played instead of Likely that usually would have gone to Andrews.
• Likely made a splash early with a 24-yard touchdown catch.
• He led the team in targets, but his other three plays all fell incomplete.
• The Saints had been the second-best team at preventing fantasy points to tight ends. Likely’s touchdown was the first by a tight end against them this season.
• The Ravens have their bye week next week, which could give Andrews enough time to recover. If not, Likely will have a few matchups that are much more favorable to the Ravens tight ends, where Likely would likely be a top-five fantasy tight end.
• It’s worth holding onto Likely in fantasy leagues just in case.

The Saints without Mark Ingram II: The Saints backup suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain, which kept him out of this potential-revenge game and will likely keep him out for the next two-to-three weeks.

• His absence largely meant more playing time for Alvin Kamara, whose snap rate was the highest it’s been since before the Saints traded for Ingram.
• Kamara wasn’t able to take advantage of the increased playing time, as the Saints rarely had a drive last more than four plays.
• He should be able to take advantage of better matchup next week against the Steelers, but after that, the Saints have some difficult matchups.
• Dwayne Washington went from third on the depth chart to second while Jordan Howard made his season debut. Both players barely saw the field on offense.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.