Fantasy Football: Rashod Bateman Fills a Glaring Need for Baltimore
The Baltimore Ravens were a pretty safe bet to address the receiver position with one of their early picks in this draft, and they wasted no time in doing so, scooping up Rashod Bateman with the 27th pick in the first round.
There is a lot to like about the prospect profile for Bateman, who owns some juicy production metrics. Per PlayerProfiler, he boasts a 94th percentile breakout age, 88% college dominator rating and 87% college target share.
Will he hit the ground running as a rookie?
Player Comparisons
numberFire's JJ Zachariason and Jim Sannes break down Bateman's profile, and JJ gives his top comparison.
Lamar Jackson has a new target in WR Rashod Bateman @LateRoundQB on why Bateman's closest NFL comparison is Keenan Allen ⤵️#RavensFlock | #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/7gSagggERA
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) April 30, 2021
Brandon Gdula's draft database has found these 10 prior prospects to have the most similar statistical profiles to Bateman. Keep in mind that these are based not on play style or traits but age, athleticism, draft equity, experience, efficiency, and production.
Rashod Bateman Profile Comparisons | Similarity |
---|---|
Dez Bryant | 92.7% |
Hakeem Nicks | 92.3% |
DeVante Parker | 91.8% |
Corey Davis | 91.7% |
Josh Doctson | 91.4% |
Amari Cooper | 91.4% |
Kenny Britt | 90.0% |
Keenan Allen | 89.8% |
DJ Moore | 89.2% |
Jordan Matthews | 89.0% |
Gdula's Take: There's a ton of green lights in Bateman's profile, which leads to some great comparisons. He's in the 85th-percentile or better in breakout age, receiving share, receiving efficiency, and height-adjusted speed in my database.
Bateman's 2021 Fantasy Football Projection
Zachariason's initial rookie-season projections for Bateman include 54 catches, 677 yards and 5.5 touchdowns, making him the PPR WR55 for the 17-game season.
While Baltimore absolutely had a need for a good wideout opposite of Marquise Brown, the Ravens also have Mark Andrews and were the most run-heavy team in the league last year. That will likely cap Bateman's upside in 2021.
On FanDuel Sportsbook, the Ravens are listed at +1400 to win the Super Bowl -- the sixth-best odds -- and +115 to take the AFC North. Baltimore owns a win total projection of 11.5 (with -143 on the under) on FOX Bet.