Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Update: Rashod Bateman, WR BAL

The NFL Draft is behind us, rookie drafts are taking place, and as dynasty owners, we are looking ahead to the upcoming season. In the Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Update series, we break down all the incoming fantasy-relevant rookies, looking at their profile and where they fit.

Name: Rashod Bateman

Position: Wide Receiver

Pro Team: Baltimore Ravens

College Team: Minnesota Golden Gophers

Draft Status: Round one, 27th overall

Video Highlights

Bateman’s highlights against Penn State provides a good breakdown of his skill set.

PRO DAY REVIEW

• Height: 6’0 3/8”
• Weight: 190 lbs
• Arm Length: 33’ (78th percentile)
• 40 yard dash: 4.43 (77th percentile)
• 20 yard split: 2.56s (70th percentile)

The elephant in the room is that Bateman has some weird disorder that causes him to shrink as he ages.

Rashod Bateman has been slowly shrinking since high school.

Comp: Keenan Allen/Benjamin Button. pic.twitter.com/Nyd813GyHi

— Robert Mays (@robertmays) April 6, 2021

Other than that, Bateman has okay size, good speed and good arm length. There’s nothing uniquely special about his physical profile but he is an all-around solid athlete.

STRENGTHS

• Strong, reliable hands
• Will make the tough catches
• Ability to adjust to poorly-thrown balls
• YAC monster once the ball is in his hands
• Excellent route runner
• Can play any wideout position

WEAKNESSES

• Doesn’t appear as fast as his 40 time suggests
• Plays at one speed, causing a lack of separation

OPPORTUNITIES

Even the biggest Marquise Brown proponent would be forced to admit that “Hollywood” does not look like he’s going to become a WR1 for the Ravens or in fantasy football. Bateman has every opportunity to step in as the Ravens WR1 in 2021. If not in 2021, then certainly in 2022 when Sammy Watkins (on a one-year deal) will likely be gone.

THREATS

The threats are Brown, and maybe Watkins if he can remain healthy and he regresses to 2015 form. Really none of the other receiving options are a threat to Bateman’s shot at being the number one for the Ravens. He has first-round draft capital, broke out at a young age, produced during his entire collegiate career, and was an early declare. His prospect profile is one that points to success at the NFL level.

The only thing that can hinder Bateman’s fantasy production would be the Ravens continuing to be a run-at-all-costs offense. In Lamar Jackson’s two full seasons as the starting quarterback, Baltimore ranked last in 2020 in pass attempts per game (25.9) and attempted the fourth-fewest passes per game in 2019. Not surprisingly, the highest a Ravens wide receiver has ranked for fantasy scoring during those two seasons was 31st last year (a WR3).

It’s easy to look at a situation and conclude that the way it currently is is the way it will always be. But there is cause to believe that the Ravens might want to throw the ball just a bit more going forward.

After drafting Bateman 27th overall this year, the Ravens have now drafted a wide receiver in the first round in two out of the last three drafts. They also drafted Miles Boykin and Devin Duvernay in the third round of the 2019 and 2020 NFL Drafts. That’s four wide receivers drafted in the first three rounds in the past three seasons.

They also drafted Tylan Wallace in the fourth round of this year’s draft. That’s a significant amount of draft capital to spend on a position – especially so if it’s a position you don’t want to utilize. While the Ravens have relied on the run, and the rushing ability of Jackson, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility to think that might have been partially due to the fact that their receivers were simply not good.

SHORT-TERM EXPECTATIONS

If nothing changes in the Ravens approach, it’s difficult to see Bateman making a huge impact in his rookie season. There’s no reason to believe that Bateman can’t step in immediately and command a significant target share, but what that equates to is difficult to say.

He’s a more complete receiver than Brown, and Watkins hasn’t been an impact player for an NFL team since his days in Buffalo. Bateman’s true competition for target share is going to be Mark Andrews, but that’s much better for his outlook than another wide receiver.

LONG-TERM EXPECTATIONS

I’m especially bullish on Bateman. I’m a fan of his profile, and his first-round draft capital sealed my feelings for him. While it would have been more advantageous for him to have landed on a team that is more pass-heavy than the Ravens, I still see at least WR2 upside for Bateman. Admittedly, this does take some projection on my part.

As I noted earlier, it’s my belief that the Ravens continued spending of high draft capital at the wide receiver position shows a desire to become more pass-heavy. Though the Ravens may never be a top-15 team in pass attempts, it’s hard to imagine they continue to attempt just 406 passes as they did in 2020.

If they can make it to just 500 pass attempts – a threshold that 28 of 32 NFL teams hit last year – and Bateman can monopolize 25% of those targets (the same percentage that Marquise Brown saw in 2020), Bateman would net 125 targets. That would be more than enough for Bateman to produce WR2 numbers.

NFL PLAYER COMPARISON

Keenan Allen is the player Bateman is most compared to. Prior to shrinking two inches between college and his pro day, there were also comps to Michael Thomas floating around. Physically he also compares to Nelson Agholor, though his production profile is much more impressive.

PROJECTED ROOKIE DRAFT RANGE

Bateman is the WR4 in both superflex and one-quarterback leagues. In one-QB leagues, he’s coming off the board at 1.08, while in superflex you can get him at the 2.01. He’s in the second tier of wide receivers, behind Ja’Marr Chase, and joining Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith. Most rookie drafts see the top three running backs go off the board prior to this tier of wide receiver.

Dynasty Fantasy Football Rookie Update: Rashod Bateman, WR BAL