I'm not sure I'm in on Rashod Bateman. The former first-rounder is entering his third season and might be Baltimore's top wideout, but there's not a great track record to latch onto. He's appeared in just 18 of a possible 34 games his first two seasons.
Bateman is practicing at OTAs this week, which is a plus; the foot injury that wrecked his 2022 season is presumably in the past. But there's a little more competition on the roster, in the form of two other first-round picks: Odell Beckham (with a recent injury history of his own), and rookie Zay Flowers.
The way fantasy tends to work -- with rookies often being overdrafted -- I'm not going to be surprised if Bateman is selected 3rd of these wideouts in most drafts. The question is if he'll be worth the gamble.
I pulled the game logs from all games where Bateman played more than half the snaps his first two seasons; there were 14 of them. He averaged 4 catches for 54 yards in those games, with 3 touchdowns. Projected out over a full season (should he happen to play one this year), it works out to 68 catches for 917 yards and 4 TDs. Last year with those numbers, he would have finished as the No. 30 PPR wideout, just behind Jakobi Meyers.
| RASHOD BATEMAN, 2021-2022 (50% OF SNAPS) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | |
| 2021 | LAC | 6 | 4 | 29 | 0 | |
| 2021 | Cin. | 6 | 3 | 80 | 0 | |
| 2021 | Min. | 8 | 5 | 52 | 0 | |
| 2021 | at Mia. | 8 | 6 | 80 | 0 | |
| 2021 | at Chi. | 6 | 3 | 29 | 0 | |
| 2021 | at Cle. | 8 | 7 | 103 | 0 | |
| 2021 | G.B. | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2021 | at Cin. | 5 | 4 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2021 | LAR | 10 | 7 | 58 | 0 | |
| 2021 | Pit. | 4 | 2 | 22 | 0 | |
| 2022 | at NYJ | 5 | 2 | 59 | 1 | |
| 2022 | Mia. | 7 | 4 | 108 | 1 | |
| 2022 | at N.E. | 4 | 2 | 59 | 0 | |
| 2022 | Cle. | 5 | 4 | 42 | 0 | |
| Projected | 102 | 68 | 917 | 4 | ||
The Ravens will have a new offense this season, but there's also new competition. I'm not convinced Beckham can stay healthy, but I'm also not skeptical enough to select Bateman with much confidence. I suspect I'll be out on Baltimore wideouts this year.
--Andy Richardson