Lamar Jackson was the fantasy football QB1 in 2024, and many have him as an early target in 2025. Let’s take a look at his history, environment, and figure out if the early price tag is worth it for fantasy football drafts in 2025.
It’s no secret Jackson and the Ravens were unstoppable in 2024. His 438.4 fantasy points were the most of his career, and the most by any quarterback we’ve ever seen. For a quick rundown of how 2024 went for Lamar, here are some notable stats on the season:
Bottom line, Jackson had a season for the ages. But most of the key metrics for fantasy football appear to be anomalies for Jackson’s career, rather than stable metrics. For example, Jackson has always been an efficient passer. He only has one season below league average in touchdown percentage as a full-time starter, and that was back in 2021. But 8.6%? There are only two other players who have even hit seven percent, and that was Brock Purdy in the Shanahan scheme and Aaron Rodgers. Neither even sniffed eight percent, which Lamar has cleared twice.
He’s an outlier, where his spike seasons are some of the best we’ve ever seen.
Is an offense with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson going to look different than the rest of the league? Yes. Is predicting another one of the best seasons of all time crazy? Also yes. With the most notable upgrade being Mark Andrews with no injury tag, the offense is due for another efficient and high-scoring season. Unfortunately, with the low pass volume, it’s unlikely Jackson has another 400-point season. His individual rushing ability will keep a reliable QB1, but most of his seasons have been between 18-21 points per game rather than record-breaking for a reason.
Depending on which site you use, Lamar Jackson is somewhere in the top three options for fantasy quarterbacks. His early price tag makes sense given the season he just had, and best ball versus ESPN standard leagues, he goes in slightly different places, but for the most part, he’s a third-round pick. He’s going in the same range as Tee Higgins, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, and George Kittle.
Short answer, no. While there is a chance he continues his historic efficiency from 2024, it’s more likely he returns to his career averages. He may still finish the season as a top-three quarterback, but at the current price tag, he needs to be the runaway QB1, or Josh Allen and Jackson have a showdown at a scoring output far and away better than the other quarterbacks later in drafts. With the influx of talent at the quarterback position and the requirement of extreme efficiency, the likelihood of Jackson running amok in fantasy football in 2025 isn’t worth his ADP.
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