Sunday Morning Chaos: Zay Flowers Sits, Carson Wentz Starts, and Fantasy Managers Panic
Ian Rapoport reported on NFL GameDay Morning that Flowers' injury opens the door for Bateman and Wentz will start for the Vikings today.
Sunday mornings in the NFL are built on chaos, and today is delivering a vintage double-shot of lineup panic. According to Ian Rapoport on NFL GameDay Morning, ' hamstring injury is officially opening the door for Rashod Bateman in , while the are dusting off the experience.
Let us start in , where the are hosting the . Flowers is doubtful after re-aggravating a hamstring issue in Week 1, and rookie Ja'Kobi Lane just hit injured reserve with a fractured wrist. That leaves Lamar Jackson looking directly at Bateman, a guy who managed zero catches on a single target in their 41-23 win over the last week.
Bateman played 80 percent of the snaps in that opener and essentially got cardio in. Now, he is the de facto number one receiver by sheer process of elimination. If you are holding a prop ticket on Bateman's receiving yards, you are betting on volume over recent history, considering he posted just 224 yards across the entire 2025 season.
Meanwhile, in , the Vikings are handing the keys to Wentz against the Chicago . This is the kind of news that makes survivor pool players sweat through their shirts. Wentz is stepping in for a team that just dropped 39 points on the last week, meaning the bar for the offense is currently sitting in the stratosphere.
We all know the Wentz rollercoaster by now. Last season in , he threw for 1,216 yards, six touchdowns, and five interceptions in five games. He is fully capable of throwing a 40-yard frozen rope on one drive and a baffling left-handed interception on the next.
Both of these moves completely scramble the board for today's slate. The Ravens need Bateman to prove he can actually command targets in a depleted receiver room, or their offense becomes entirely one-dimensional. The just need Wentz to keep the car on the road against a division rival.
We will see exactly how much trust Jackson actually has in Bateman by the second quarter. As for Wentz, buckle up. By the time the late window kicks off, he will either be the hero of the week or the reason a lot of televisions get thrown out of windows.