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The Baltimore Ravens will face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday in a key divisional matchup with serious playoff implications. Pittsburgh has a 10-4 record and will clash with one of its bitter rivals -- the Ravens boast a 9-5 record on the season, meaning the fight for the division crown is alive and well.
The two teams also have two of the league's better offenses, and there are several players from each team that fantasy managers will consider starting.
Let's dive into three players from among these two teams and whether they should be in your starting linups for Week 16.
Should I Start Mark Andrews for Fantasy Football?
Yes. Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews is still good player to start. It's been an odd situation for Andrews, who's been highly touchdown dependent this season. There have been a few problems with his campaign -- the awful three-TE rotation the team went with (and prefers) and his lack of usage even aside from that.
after a slow start to the season, Mark Andrews has been one of the best tight ends in fantasy football pic.twitter.com/LgEF9rhOK7
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) December 15, 2024
After a sluggish start to the year, he's now snagged eight touchdowns in the team's last nine games. That's where most of his value comes from. He still curiously has had games of 42%, 61%, and 49% of snaps since Week 8. The playing time simply isn't there like it's been in past seasons. Last year, he had just one game under 69% of snaps, other than when he got injured.
The injury to TE Charlie Kolar (forearm) actually helped Andrews be more consistent, which is an insane thing to say, but Baltimore preferred to limit the workload of their star TE. He's 29 years old, so he could be in the load-management phase of his career. But it was hideous to see Kolar, Andrews, and TE Isaiah Likely in the rotation they were in before Kolar got hurt.
And he won't be eligible to return until Week 18. So you should start Andrews from now on, but be ready for a dud if he doesn't get another of his scores. He's an elite separator as a TE, so if he gets the targets, he can produce. But that's a big "if", as he was only thrown passes twice last week.
Should I Start Rashod Bateman for Fantasy Football?
Wide receiver Rashod Bateman, of the aforementioned Ravens, snagged two touchdowns in a three-catch, 80-yard receiving effort against the New York Giants in Week 15. Bateman had another one of his patented blow-up games after playing just 40% of snaps and not earning a target in Week 13, before the team's bye.
Elite in-game PFF grades for Rashod Bateman:
🟦 90.0 Receiving Grade
🟦 90.9 Overall Gradepic.twitter.com/ngN69U5BSY— All-22 (@All22_PFF) December 15, 2024
Bateman is an elite separator, and despite dealing with injuries and low production in previous years, he now has seven touchdowns on the season. The problem is that it's difficult to predict when it will happen, and Baltimore is a run-heavy team. He's also not the team's WR1, so he doesn't see consistently high targets.
And despite his big day last week, he was only targeted five times, which isn't a good sign. The Steelers also have a much tougher pass defense than the Giants do. And in PPR leagues, there's little solace in starting Bateman, as he's the furthest from a PPR-scam type player there is in the league.
In very deep leagues, he could be started for his upside, but expecting him to get two TDs or even one score isn't wise. We don't recommend firing him up -- in his first outing against the Steelers, he scored just 5.0 PPR FPTs.
Should I Start Jaylen Warren for Fantasy Football?
We wouldn't recommend starting Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren either. Baltimore allows just 3.5 yards per opponent rush attempt this season, which is by far the lowest mark in the league. Warren is more of a pass-catching back that works well in space, but his volume has not been good this season.
Steelers Mailbag: Jaylen Warren, George Pickens and media/player relationships
Mark Kaboly / Steelers Correspondent
For The @PatMcAfeeShowPITTSBURGH — Yes, it’s concerning that the Steelers got beat the way they did in Philadelphia.
But what can’t be lost in their 27-13 loss… pic.twitter.com/NVFJgHfxNQ
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) December 18, 2024
Pittsburgh is content with using lead back Najee Harris as a workhorse plodder, and the team doesn't throw to its running backs nearly enough to give Warren a nice floor. JW has just 28 catches on the season. There hasn't been enough volume to justify starting him in a nightmare matchup, so he should be left on the bench.
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