The Baltimore Ravens drafted two phenominal wide receivers in Rashod Bateman and Tylan Wallace. The team spend a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick respectively on the two, so they will most likely look for the pair to contribute in some way during the 2021 season. However, it’s fair to ask just how much both will see the field in their rookie seasons.
It’s rather safe to say that Bateman will be asked to do more than Wallace on day one. There’s a reason that Baltimore spent the 27th overall selection on Bateman, and he should see immediate snaps in the Ravens’ offense. He will most likely see the majority of his snaps on the outside, as Baltimore already has plenty of slot options on their roster and Bateman can be extremely physical and aggressive while catching the football. He will also probably be asked to use his sharp route running to get open over the middle of the field, where quarterback Lamar Jackson has favored throwing the football so far during his young career.
For Wallace, his situation is a bit different. There will certainly be times where he’ll be on the field and contributing, but his playing time might be a bit harder to come by. The Ravens now have an extremely deep group at wide receiver, and although Wallace projects as an outside threat, he’ll be competing with the likes of Bateman, Sammy Watkins, and even potentially Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin for those snaps.
There’s no doubt that Wallace has the ability to step up and make an impact if a receiver goes down with an injury, but Baltimore seemingly favors veterans over rookies unless there’s a major hole or they were a high draft selection, so in his first year Wallace might be overlooked at times for other players. Even Devin Duvernay or James Proche could get snaps over him due to seniority, although both of them project as slot players, not outside receivers.
All in all, the Ravens selected two very talented pass catchers who should be a big part of what the organization does on offense for a very long time. However during their rookie seasons, they could be left on the sideline in some situations in favor of veterans. That’s not to say either can’t make a huge impact, and while Bateman will probably see more action out of the gate than Wallace, both will have roles that they can fill nicely.