10 future questions emerging from Baltimore Ravens win over Cincinnati Bengals

7. Are the Baltimore Ravens easing Rashod Bateman in?

One small note about the Baltimore Ravens is that we have hardly seen Rashod Bateman involved in the offense. He has been out there, just not with much of an impact through two games. He also has not been a full participant, often splitting time with Nelson Agholor.

Through two weeks, Bateman has run 58% of the routes, with 57% in week one and 59% in week two. More interesting than that is seeing his slot rate shoot up to 35.6%. His career rate is 18.7%, and he played 18.3% as a rookie and 14.2% last season. He has 16 slot snaps through two games and is on pace for 136 snaps in the slot. Entering this season, he had 97 snaps in the slot.

So, there are two things going on. First, after his foot injury, the team does not want to overstress him, so he is playing part-time. Beyond that, he is adjusting to a new role. So, he is not going to be putting up monster numbers. However, as the season gets going, he could more snaps and could get used to his role in the slot. When do we start to see more of Bateman, and does he remain more involved in the slot?