Ravens Zay Flowers 'Did Great Things!' in Debut
If Baltimore Ravens fans were excited about what rookie Zay Flowers might produce this season, then after his exploits in the 25-9 win over the Houston Texans, they might just be beside themselves.
In his regular season debut, Flowers showed that he was as advertised in a superb performance as he finished the game leading the Ravens for receiving yards (78).
Flowers caught virtually everything that came his way on Sunday (nine catches from 10 targets) as he showed off his run-after-the-catch ability several times.
Such was his performance that Peter Schrager put Flowers in the top five best rookie performances of Week 1.
“Zay was awesome in a game you might not have been watching,” Schrager said on Good Morning Football. “Zay Flowers did a lot of great things, did it from a lot of different places. Lamar’s favorite target was Zay, his first-round pick and a guy that he’s connected with right away.
“[His] after the catch stuff was fantastic. All the things we imagine coming out of Boston College, we saw it take form in this game. They used him behind the line of scrimmage, out wide, used him at the X, at the Y.”
Flowers' nine receptions lead the Ravens in Todd Monken's new offensive scheme that was, in truth, a little clunky.
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But that is to be expected in the first week, but Baltimore still put up 25 points, converted 8/15 third downs, and averaged 4.6 yards per play.
Flowers was a big part of a Baltimore offense that included Odell Beckham Jr., Rashod Bateman, Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, and J.K. Dobbins.
But even he was surprised by the amount of targets he saw coming his way from Lamar Jackson.
“Honestly, I was just pleased to get some catches,” Flowers said. “In my head, I was like two catches. I’d be good with that. First game, get the win, as long as we win, I was alright.”
The receiver has got his NFL career off to a great start, but this is just the beginning, as now he has to replicate it against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Judging from what we have seen throughout training camp and now against the Texans, we have little reason to think that Flowers won't do "great things" again next week.
