The Baltimore Ravens selected wide receiver Rashod Bateman with the 27th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. He was a player who had been highly touted throughout the pre-draft process by many Ravens fans, and the team made the decision to draft him and make him one of the newest weapons for quarterback Lamar Jackson. However, could he be the true No. 1 wide receiver that the organization has been looking for?
Bateman is listed at 6-foot-1 and weighs 193 pounds, but plays extremely physical. He’s able to go up and get the football with ease while also coming down with plenty of contested catches. Baltimore needed a pass catcher who wasn’t afraid to get physical at the point of attack, and Bateman certainly does that well.
He isn’t just a receiver with reliable hands, however. Bateman is also an extremely sharp route runner, cutting on a dime and freezing defenders in their tracks as he looks to get open. He’s a very polished receiver who does a bit of everything well. While he won’t blow anyone away with blazing speed, he’s fast enough to cause problems for opposing defenses.
His skillset is exactly what the Ravens needed. Baltimore already has plenty of slot options in Marquise Brown, Devin Duvernay and James Proche, so Bateman will most likely be playing on the outside more than moving inside. That should give him plenty of opportunities, especially in his rookie year, to learn, grow, and develop into the player that he and the Ravens want him to become.
Bateman certainly has what it takes to develop into a true No. 1 receiver for Baltimore. However, for right now, that honor still belongs to Brown, who has developed into a very solid pass catcher for the Ravens. Until Bateman earns the title, Brown is still the No. 1 receiver in Baltimore, although Bateman has all of the potential in the world to become one of the best wideouts in the NFL and the true No. 1 wide receiver that the Ravens have been missing for years now.