Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings Riser: Rashod Bateman, WR BAL

Summer and the off-season are upon us. As dynasty owners, we are looking ahead to the upcoming season. In the Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings Risers and Fallers series, we break down some of the fantasy-relevant dynasty players, including rookies, and look at their values while providing actionable advice on what to do with them.

Rashod Bateman, WR BAL (June 2021 Rank=59, Current Rank=40)

Bateman has seen a slow, steady climb in the DLF rankings since the Baltimore Ravens selected him with their first-round pick (27th overall) in 2021. Since June of last year, he has moved up 19 spots overall and is currently the WR18 in the ranks.

Data Courtesy of DLF Dynasty Rankings History Comparison App.

Baltimore trading Marquise Brown to Arizona during the draft in April sent Bateman’s ranking up nine spots in just one month. He is ranked as high as the WR11 by Bruce Matson and as low as the WR25 by Jeff Haverlack.

Data Courtesy of DLF WR Rankings.

Bateman is ranked ahead of his former Raven teammate Brown and other big-name veterans such as Mike Evans, Amari Cooper, and Keenan Allen. Here is a look at the complete landscape of the current DLF wide receiver rankings.

Get in on It

The city of Baltimore adopted a new saying back in 2006 of “get in on it.” Bateman plans to do just that in 2022. As mentioned above, Brown is now in the desert with Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins.

The other wideouts currently on Baltimore’s roster to threaten 22-year-old Bateman for targets are Devin Duvernay and James Proche II. We aren’t exactly talking about the “Mark Brothers” here. Tight end Mark Andrews and Bateman should receive the majority of looks from quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Data Courtesy of DLF Yearly Data App.

Brown started his career on fire in terms of receiving points per opportunity but we can see that in 2021, Brown and Bateman were almost identical in this category, perhaps making Baltimore comfortable in sending Brown packing. Bateman was injured much of his rookie campaign and did not record a stat until week six.

Data Courtesy of DLF Player Scoring History App.

A look at the week 14 performance shows what Bateman is capable of. He put up 17.3 PPR points, catching seven of eight targets for 103 yards. He also had some serviceable double-digit performances in week 16 and week 17. Had the 6’2”, 210-pound wideout not been hurt in training camp, his rookie season may have looked a lot different.

Is Eight Enough?

Will quarterback Lamar Jackson throw enough to support both Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman? Jackson has attempted over 400 passes just once in his career (401 in 2019) and head coach John Harbaugh has implemented a run-first offense.

Data Courtesy of DLF Coaching History App.

The 2021 season was a bit of an anomaly for the Ravens as you can see by the tendencies in the coaching history app shown above. Typically they are running the ball nearly 60% of the time. This is not to say that there cannot be production from more than one player in the receiving game.

Data Courtesy of DLF Coaching History App.

Last year proved that a WR2 and a TE1 could come out of the Ravens passing attack. Again, this was an anomaly last year. Jackson and Andrews appear to have created some chemistry similar to that of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. It’ll be interesting to see if Bateman can take earn some targets from the Jackson.

New Look Quarterback

Speaking of Jackson, some pics came out of the recent Ravens mandatory minicamp and the dynamic quarterback has bulked up. Significantly. The Louisville grad is said to be pushing 220 pounds after playing around 206 to 208 pounds most of his NFL career.

One of those days☀️ pic.twitter.com/VQPHvNrp5o

— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) July 7, 2022

Jackson has reportedly looked good handling the extra bulk, throwing tighter spirals, and with more zip on his passes. That can only mean good things for Bateman and the entire Baltimore passing game.

Unfinished Business

Bateman opted out of the remainder of the 2020 season while playing for the Minnesota Golden Gophers after just five games due to Covid-19 concerns. His freshman and sophomore seasons put the nation on notice and allowed him to focus on the NFL rather than finishing college.

Data Courtesy of Sports Reference.

There should be plenty of opportunity for the second-year wideout in 2022. Brown’s departure – as well as that of Sammy Watkins – will open up about 32% of the target share from the wideouts who were on last year’s team. We mentioned earlier the solid stretch Bateman had once healthy. In his first five games played, he saw six or more targets, including eight in back-to-back weeks (week nine and week ten).

Data Courtesy of DLF Player Splits App.

That span mentioned above all involved Jackson at quarterback (before his injury) and we see that Bateman had a solid rapport with his QB in the seven games they played together. Things are looking up for the future. Remember, Bateman is still just 22 years old.

Conclusion/Course of Action

The stars are all aligned for Bateman to have a breakout second year. Marquise Brown and Sammy Watkins are gone. Lamar Jackson is healthy and has bulked up. The offense seems to be opening up some as well. I like this.

Data Courtesy of DLF Trade Finder.

Here is a look at some of the trades going on around the community. I like the multi-player deal that happened on July 5th. Getting Bateman and Dalton Schultz is a win. Both players are up-and-comers and still quite young. These are the trades to seek out on the regular.