Highest-graded player of the Week: WR Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens

• Elite efficiency in limited action: Zay Flowers produced 150 receiving yards on 11 routes, averaging an NFL-best 13.64 yards per route run among qualifying wide receivers.

• Versatility created opportunities: Flowers recorded 79 yards from the slot and another 54 out of the backfield while playing just 20 offensive snaps.

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Each week, I’ll be breaking down the NFL’s highest-graded player from the previous slate, highlighting the plays and details that drove their performance to the top of the league.

Week 1 produced an unusual winner. The highest-graded player on either side of the ball didn’t even make it through the first half.

Before an injury ended his afternoon, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers played just 20 offensive snaps. He turned them into 150 receiving yards, delivering one of the most explosive performances of the opening week and providing more than enough tape to show why he finished atop the PFF grading.

Where he lined up

Zay Flowers backfield snaps in 2025: 4
Zay Flowers backfield snaps in one half in 2026: 2 pic.twitter.com/tIRF5qoqbv

— Gordon McGuinness (@GordonNFL) September 16, 2026

Three of his catches and 79 of his yards came when lined up in the slot. He also led all players in the NFL in receiving yards out of the backfield (54), thanks to the 54-yard touchdown reception from that alignment.

Ridiculous efficiency

Flowers was targeted early and often in the first half against the Colts on Sunday, and it led to one of the most eye-popping stats of the opening weekend. The Ravens receiver ultimately averaged 13.64 yards per route run, more than six full yards higher than his previous best.

It’s a number that led all wide receivers who were on the field for 10 or more passing snaps this week. And while playing only 20 snaps definitely helps the average, the sheer volume of targets he saw does give it some more stability.

To put it another way, if Flowers had matched his routes run in the second half but not seen a single pass thrown his way, he still would have led all NFL wide receivers in yards per route run this week.

Higher volume of targets

Zay Flowers ranked 19th among NFL wide receivers in targets in 2025 (117), and given the volume of the Ravens’ passing attack, he has never been a particularly high-volume target in the first three years of his career.

He had six targets in the first half against the Colts on Sunday, and even if we assume he wouldn’t have seen another target in the final few minutes of the half, he was still on pace for 12 in the game.

If he were healthy for the entire regular season — and there are questions about whether this hamstring injury will cost him time — that pace would put him at 204 targets, which would have led the NFL last year. Obviously, that first half was a very small sample size, but even if he averaged eight targets per game, which feels more than reasonable given his usage against the Colts, that would put him on pace for 136 targets over a 17-game regular season. That would have ranked seventh at the position a year ago.

Maybe it’s too early to assume this level of volume will continue, but it very much felt on Sunday like this is a passing game that flows through Zay Flowers and one that will move him around the formation to create favorable matchups.

The big question now is whether that hamstring injury will cost him time or cause lingering problems. If it doesn’t, Flowers is a legitimate candidate to lead the NFL in receiving yards.