OWINGS MILLS — Zay Flowers is becoming the type of dangerous wide receiver that the Ravens envisioned when they selected him in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Flowers had nine receptions for a career-high 132 receiving yards – all in the first half — in the 30-23 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday. Flowers has stacked back-to-back games with 100-yard receiving outings, the first Raven to accomplish that feat since tight end Mark Andrews in 2021.
“[Flowers is] exactly the weapon we absolutely knew he was and would be and has been, to be honest with you,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s been there all along, and the opportunities came up. Sometimes the defense doesn’t allow it. Sometimes the ball doesn’t come your way for whatever reason, but today [Sunday] the opportunities showed up, and we had to have … Those catches had to be made.”
The Ravens selected Flowers with the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
That decision paid dividends as Flowers led the team with 77 receptions for 858 yards — both franchise rookie records — and five touchdowns. He also ran for a score while starting 16 games.
He is making more strides this season as he becomes even more comfortable with quarterback Lamar Jackson and the offense.
Flowers has three career games with at least 100 receiving yards. That marks the third most by a Raven within their first two NFL seasons, trailing Mark Clayton (five from 2005-06) and Torrey Smith (four from 2011-12).
Flowers leads the team with 33 receptions for 401 yards with a touchdown.
The focus is on earning a second straight AFC North crown and making a deep run in the postseason. Flowers is confident everyone on the team is pulling in the same direction.
“It’s just win,” Flowers said. “I feel like that should be the mentality for all of us, and that was the mentality for all of us today – to just go win. We’ve been doing so well running the ball that they’ve got to pack the box, and we have to go win, so I was just glad to be able to show that we can win.”
