Inside the final 30 seconds of the first half on Sunday, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson dropped back in the pocket and flung a pass toward one of his trustiest receivers. Zay Flowers caught it, turned back, sidestepped and the whirling dervish sped up the sideline, pointing one finger toward the crowd as he coasted into the end zone.

Jackson figured a Denver Broncos defender would pull Flowers right down. And NextGenStats expected Flowers to get maybe 4 yards after the catch. Instead, he managed 31 for his second touchdown in a 41-10 victory.

Coach John Harbaugh gushed after the win about what it must be like to be so elusive.

Within what they call a “pick-your-poison” offense, for an organization that had once been pining for a clear top receiver, Flowers looks primed to be a long-term WR1.

“He’s one of a kind,” Jackson said. “He’s just that type of player — getting open, making guys miss after he catches the ball, scoring from anywhere on the field — that’s just him.”

Despite a breakout 2023 season setting franchise rookie records in receptions and receiving yards, pundits pegged Flowers would perform outside of the top 30 receivers this year.

NFL.com’s Adam Rank wrote him into his fifth tier at the position in July. And an anonymous ESPN preseason poll of executives, coaches and scouts forecasting the league’s top players at the position did not include Flowers.Now through nine weeks, the sophomore speedster is fifth in receiving yards behind some of the sport’s biggest stars: Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Garrett Wilson and CeeDee Lamb. That’s two All-Pros, two former rookies of the year and Baltimore’s nascent star, who Pro Football Focus has graded the league’s 10th-best receiver.

Diontae Johnson, who joined Baltimore’s receiver room last week in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, was quickly impressed by Flowers’ versatility. “How he runs his routes kind of reminds me a little bit of me,” the former Pro Bowl wideout said. It’s little ticks and route-running nuances that Johnson said are a Florida thing.

“His talent is unique,” Johnson said. “Not a lot of guys can do what he do. Just being able to see what everybody [has] been talking about is crazy ’cause you see the work he puts in.”

Flowers has four games this season with more than 100 receiving yards, and they have each come in the past five weeks. One more and he’ll tie Mark Andrews for the franchise record in a single season. Six more in a Ravens jersey and he’ll tie Andrews for the career record.

In those five weeks, he leads the NFL in receiving yards (496) and yards after catch (232).

Such production is a far cry from 2022 when Ravens receivers combined for a league-low 1,517 yards. Flowers is not alone in flipping the narrative. But he’s certainly the front-runner.

According to football data scientist Sam Hoppen, the Ravens rank 20th in the NFL in combined target share of the top three players on each team. Flowers is handily leading among Jackson’s options, getting 27.3% of targets.

As Jackson put it, “God blessed him with the ability to make guys miss.”

Baltimore has drafted 12 receivers in the past decade. Nine of them are gone, namely Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who requested a trade after a 1,000-yard season in 2021 and netted the Ravens a first-round draft pick from the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, Tylan Wallace has been a solid special teams returner but not much more. And Rashod Bateman, also a first-round draft pick, dealt with injuries his first two seasons but has cemented his place in the lineup with more consistent play.

The night Flowers was drafted with the 22nd pick, while wearing an all-black suit with sparkles christening the sleeves and gold-tinted glasses, he bowed his head trying to hear general manager Eric DeCosta through the phone.

“I can’t think of a player that I’ve drafted that I feel as strongly about as you,” DeCosta told him. And Harbaugh added, “You’re our kinda guy.”

It’s taken less than two full seasons for Flowers to vindicate such draft-night anticipation.

“He’s just a product of maximizing his opportunities,” veteran receiver Nelson Agholor said. “Every time he touches it, he tries to make a big play.”