When Lamar Jackson made his public trade request on March 27, it looked like the Baltimore Ravens would lose their franchise quarterback. Yet exactly one month later, Jackson re-signed with the Ravens, making him the highest-paid player in the NFL.

Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, has been invaluable to Baltimore's success in recent years. Over the last two seasons, the Ravens are 14-8 when Jackson plays the full game, versus just 4-8 when he does not.

In fantasy football, the Baltimore QB has been an invaluable weapon when healthy, utilizing a unique combination at the quarterback position of rushing and passing prowess to deliver big performances for fantasy owners. With Jackson staying in Charm City for the long run and hopefully finally healthy, what can fantasy football owners expect of the dual-threat QB in 2023? This is Lamar Jackson's 2023 fantasy football outlook.

Lamar Jackson 2023 Fantasy Football Outlook 

Passing game improvement?

Jackson is coming off a rather disappointing campaign in terms of passing. Though he did solve his interception issues from 2021, Jackson threw for 54 fewer yards per game on almost five fewer attempts per contest. His 91.1 quarterback rating was also still well below the marks he put up in 2019 and 2020 (113.3 and 99.1, respectively).

The Ravens made aggressive moves in the off-season to improve the weapons around him. The additions of free agent Odell Beckham Jr. and rookie first-round pick Zay Flowers join the dangerous Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay, plus Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews. On paper, this could be the best group of wide receivers that Lamar Jackson has been able to throw to, making for a more promising passing game for the Ravens.

Reliance on the run

Lamar Jackson's MVP performance in 2019 is beginning to look like something of an outlier. His 43 total touchdowns that year (36 in the air, seven on the ground) are 10 more than in any season since and more than twice his total of 20 scores in 2022. His 4,300 total yards in 2019 are also 600 more than in any season since.

Yet even without MVP-like numbers, Jackson is still a high-level fantasy quarterback thanks to his ability to pick up yards on the ground. The mobile signal-caller averaged 6.8 yards per carry in 2022, up a full yard from 2021. This uptick in efficiency combined with a decrease in carries (almost two fewer per game) meant that Jackson's overall rushing yardage in 2022 stayed even from 2021. Fantasy football owners will hope the 26-year-old can improve on his rushing touchdown totals (just five over the last two years) but there is still significant value in a QB who rushes for 63 yards/game.

Injury issues

When healthy, Lamar Jackson is one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league and a borderline top-five fantasy QB. But the sixth-year man has missed a combined 11 games over the last two seasons with injury, all of them coming at the end of the year. Given his rushing frequency (around 10 carries per game), the risk of injury is always going to be there for Jackson. Lamar can get your team to the fantasy football playoffs, just make sure you have a reliable backup if you want to win a championship.

Overall outlook

In the 11 full games that Lamar Jackson played last season, he averaged 21.3 points, good for fifth among fantasy QBs using ESPN's PPR scoring system. But Jackson's season can be broken down into two parts. In weeks one through three, Jackson averaged 35.4 points/contests. From that point on, the Baltimore quarterback put up 16.2 points per fantasy matchup — which would have put him 16th overall on the season.

ESPN currently has Jackson as the fifth-ranked fantasy quarterback heading into the 2023 season, putting him 58th overall in PPR leagues and 55th in non-PPR. At worst, Jackson is an injury-prone mid-level QB. At best, he is an elite fantasy option for a fantasy contender. He is a risky pick, but Lamar Jackson's upside makes him worthy of a sixth or seventh-round pick in most leagues.