The Baltimore Ravens selected University of Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman with the No. 27 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Baltimore will be expecting big things from their new pass catcher, as he brings a skill set that the team needs.
Bateman was a star playing football in college, but was also getting offers from Big Ten schools to play basketball. On 2 for 1 Drafts, Minnesota football head coach P.J. Fleck recalled an amazing story of recruiting Bateman to play for him where it turned into the wide receiver recruiting the coach.
P.J. Fleck's recruitment of Rashod Bateman is an all-time story 🔥@GopherFootball | @Coach_Fleck | @R_bateman2 pic.twitter.com/L26RQamG3q
— PFF (@PFF) May 31, 2021
Fleck’s story is almost that out of a movie, where a player tells a coach that he’ll impress so much during a workout that the school will offer a scholarship. That’s what ended up happening, and the Minnesota head coach said that he hasn’t had “maybe anyone have a better individual workout than he did that day.”
Bateman is an extremely smooth route runner, can make contested catches, and has a knack for getting open. He showed Fleck that he deserved a chance at the University of Minnesota, and then showed the Ravens that he deserved a chance with them. If history repeats itself, Bateman will have a long and prosperous career in Baltimore.