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Rashod Bateman

Rookie impact rare for late first-rounders

Story out of Ravens camp that first-round wideout Rashod Bateman is week to week with a groin injury. Missing a good chunk (if not all) of the preseason, it will be a lot tougher for him to make a rookie year impact. Considering where he was drafted, there were long odds against it anyway.

The Ravens selected Bateman with the 27th pick in the first round, and that's not an area that tends to produce quick success. From 2001 through 2020, there were 33 wide receivers drafted in the first round, but outside the top 20. Just three of those players put up top-2o PPR numbers in their rookie season. Just four more made it into the top 35. So about a one-in-five chance of those players finishing as decent starters in typical leagues.

LATE FIRST-ROUND WIDEOUTS, 2001-2020
YearPkPlayerTgtNoYdsTDRk
202022Justin Jefferson, Min.12588140076
201428Kelvin Benjamin, Car.145731008916
201826Calvin Ridley, Atl.92648211020
200723Dwayne Bowe, K.C.11670995522
200922Percy Harvin, Min.9160790823
200929Hakeem Nicks, NYG7447790633
202025Brandon Aiyuk, S.F.9660748735
201824DJ Moore, Car.8255788236
200625Santonio Holmes, Pitt.8649824338
201329Cordarrelle Patterson, Min.7745469938
201024Dez Bryant, Dall.7345561842
201925Marquise Brown, Balt.7146584746
201327DeAndre Hopkins, Hou.9152802249
200930Kenny Britt, Ten.7542701352
200521Matt Jones, Jac.6936432553
200522Mark Clayton, Balt.8744471355
201621Will Fuller, Hou.9247635361
200732Anthony Gonzalez, Ind.5137576366
200527Roddy White, Atl.6929446371
200130Reggie Wayne, Ind.4927345086
200125Freddie Mitchell, Phil.4321283189
202021Jalen Reagor, Phil.5431396291
201022Demaryius Thomas, Den.3922283295
200730Craig Davis, S.D.34201881106
201126Jonathan Baldwin, K.C.52212541108
201529Phillip Dorsett, Ind.39182251110
200431Rashaun Woods, S.F.2371601122
201932N'Keal Harry, N.E.24121052124
200429Michael Jenkins, Atl.2071190136
201622Josh Doctson, Was.62660169
201623Laquon Treadwell, Min.31150187
201230A.J. Jenkins, S.F.1000195
201526Breshad Perriman, Balt.0000--

The best of those players, of course, put up his numbers just last season -- Justin Jefferson. And Calvin Ridley did it just a couple of years before that. So it happens, and maybe Bateman, even with missing a good chunk of August, can do the same.

But I notice from the list above that the Ravens are 0 for 3 this century as far as getting much of a rookie impact out of their first-rounders. Neither Marquise Brown, Mark Clayton nor Breshad Perriman was a top-40 wide receiver in their rookie seasons.

You never know, but Bateman probably won't be on any of my sleeper lists.

--Andy Richardson

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