Mark

Andrews

The Ravens have developed a tush push package of their own with Andrews under center. He picked up two yards and a first down on the ground for the second week in a row. Through the air, Andrews passed the eye test with flying colors, attacking the ball in the air as a big-play threat for Lamar Jackson on multiple occasions. He scored his seventh touchdown of the past eight games with an early jump ball win in the end zone. Andrews will hang out at the bottom of the TE1 ranks versus the Giants when he returns from Baltimore’s upcoming bye.

The team continued to deploy three tight ends as Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar both were involved throughout, but it was Andrews that saw the second most targets on the team and found the end zone in the third quarter. Likely was not targeted on the evening while Kolar caught just one pass for six yards. The consistent volume is likely not coming back for the veteran tight end but he should continue to return usable fantasy scores with a robust red zone role.

To make matters worse, Andrews was also out-targeted by Isaiah Likely, who caught 4-of-5 targets for 75 yards while running one fewer route than Andrews. Andrews has eclipsed 40 yards just once in his last four games, which came in Week 10 with Isaiah Likely sidelined. Fantasy managers can continue to start him, but his ceiling remains that of a low-end TE1. He and the Ravens get the Chargers in Week 12 on Monday night.

With the Ravens playing one of the worst defenses in the league, Andrews posted new season highs across the board. It helped that Isaiah Likely (hamstring) was on the shelf. The statline is obviously good news, though it’s bad news Andrews hadn’t previously reached six receptions or 60 yards. The fundamental fact of Andrews’ season is that both his floor and ceiling are way off his career norms. He won’t be a particularly appealing TE1 for Week 11 vs. the Steelers.

Likely did not practice once this week before being ruled out. The good news is that he gets the mini-bye following Baltimore’s Thursday Night Football matchup with Cincinnati. Mark Andrews will approach a full-time role tomorrow after spending most of this season in a rotation with Likely and Charlie Kolar. A decrease in 12-personnel sets should also get Diontae Johnson on the field more.

Lamar Jackson only attempted 19 passes and Zay Flowers accounted for nearly a third of those throws, so there wasn’t much volume to go around for the rest of the Baltimore pass-catchers. Andrews entered the week with a touchdown in three straight games but it ended there. The 29-year-old tight end has seen his target share plummet this year and the addition of Diontae Johnson, who didn’t catch a pass this week, won’t help. Andrews will return to the top of the TE2 ranks for his Week 10 matchup with the Bengals.

Andrews’ 36 receiving yards were his fewest since Week 5, but he did find the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown in the third quarter and now has four touchdowns this season — trailing only Tucker Kraft and George Kittle, who has yet to play at the time this was written. Andrews still feels like a risky bet on a week-to-week basis, but his production over the last four weeks has been far better than the 65 yards he totaled in the first four weeks. He’ll be a low-end TE1 in Week 9 against the Broncos.

Of course he did. Andrews was left free to roam in a zone hole on his first score, a nine-yarder. He added a four-yarder in the third quarter where Jordan Whitehead completely lost track of him. Perhaps we all should have listened when the Ravens said he’d have big games. He’s back on the TE1 radar against the Browns, though this year should tell you he’ll be hard to trust until we see more volume.

Andrews’ first catch didn’t come until late in the second quarter, but it was a 13-yard score to please his fantasy managers and end his scoreless drought. Andrews would haul in two more passes for 53 yards on a drive that set up a Derrick Henry touchdown. It’s hard to know what Andrews’ day could have looked like if not for those two drives — literally, but he’s now caught seven passes for 121 yards and a touchdown in his last two games. It’s too early to say he’s back, so we’ll call Andrews a boom-or-bust option in Week 7 against the Buccaneers.

The good news: The catches were Andrews’ first of any kind since late in Week 2. The bad news: Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar combined for three touchdowns behind Andrews. They caught six total passes for 77 yards. Kolar had a 55-yard seam buster that was the Ravens’ longest play of the game. It’s not surprising Andrews was finally involved as a receiver again after the Bengals actually forced Baltimore to throw, but he simply hasn’t commanded targets no matter the game script this year. He’s become impossible to rank inside the top 12 and is arguably a tenuous roster hold. “Arguably” because it’s still such a sorry scene at tight end, and this is an elite offense. The Ravens host the Commanders’ poor defense for Week 6.