After two seasons in the NFL, the third season will be make-or-break for Rashod Bateman. The Baltimore Ravens will have to decide whether or not to pick up his fifth-year option. If they do not, it may mean that he has just one season left with the team.
While things have changed a bit in the Ravens receiver room, it may be for the better. Beyond health, what is the case for Bateman having a better season in 2023 than the last two?
3. Additons to Baltimore Ravens offense could help Rashod Bateman
Some people may think that the additions of Odell Beckham and Zay Flowers are a death sentence for the prospects for Rashod Bateman. However, at the same time, they could easily help clear things up for him. First, Beckham has as many health questions as Bateman at this point, that is no lock.
Beyond that, Zay Flowers is a rookie. So, both will surely have an impact, but neither will be the sole carrier of an offense. Still, Flowers and Beckham do have the name brand value more than Bateman at this point.
So, the Baltimore Ravens could see the attention slip to one of the others, and it could leave Bateman against the opposing team's third-best cornerback, or at least it will leave Bateman seeing almost bracket coverage.
When you think of how the Ravens will use Zay Flowers as a rookie, the most likely thought is an improved Devin Duvernay role where they put the ball in his hands near the line of scrimmage. Odell Beckham has always won with his slant routes, and it may have the defense creeping in because of those two.
That could leave Bateman open over the top for big plays. Bateman showed last season that when he has a chance to expose teams with the bomb, he can make that play. With Flowers and Beckham, teams will not be thinking about that impact as much. If Bateman loses more of the share of targets, but his yards and big play rate go up, it could still lead to a big-time season.
2. The Baltimore Ravens offense may open up for Rashod Bateman
One thing that will not only help Bateman but also Flowers and Beckham is the change in offensive coordinator to Todd Monken. Greg Roman was a great coordinator for the start of the career for Lamar Jackson. However, now that the team is ready for Jackson to take that step into being a bigger passing threat, they needed a better passing coordinator.
Todd Monken is very highly regarded as a passing game offensive coordinator. Even at Georgia he brought an impressive explosive passing game elelment to a team that typically will punch you in the mouth with the ground game.
It speaks to why the Ravens would have interest. Like Georgia, the Ravens inherently get respect as a running attack. Now, like Georgia they will be hoping to suck teams in with the run and then use explosive passes to make them pay over the top. If they creep back out, the run game gets stronger.
This could lead to the deep passes being the draw for Rashod Bateman. As we noted, of the three, the deep ball player may be Bateman. At times, Bateman may be able to use his deep routes to free things up. Still, when the run game, and Zay Flowers, and the play calling gets the defense tight, Bateman is going to attack.
Beyond that, even if Bateman does lose a percentage of the targets, the passing game is going to go up in targets by a decent bit. The Ravens had been at the bottom in pass attempts per game with Greg Roman, and Todd Monken has consistently seen his offense above average in that rate. That is going to be a notable change.
The added volume, the deeper passing, and the better design could easily offset the reality that the entire pie has to be split between more big names.
1. Rashod Bateman has been consistent for Baltimore Ravens
While it was a small sample, it was looking like Bateman was going to have a breakout season. He averaged an impressive 2.38 yards per route run. For comparison, CeeDeeLamb was at 2.39, while Stefon Diggs, Cooper Kupp, and Amon-Ra St. Brown, were at 2.4. He may not have kept up that rate, but if he did he would have been elite company.
While he only has 800 career yards, he averages 48 yards per game. If he extrapolated that average out over a full season he would be at 816 yards. He also averaged 1.51 yards per route run over his entire career. If he had an average number of routes run, and was at 1.51 yards per route then you would see just over 800 yards.
So, if his first two seasons were just one season, fans would be happy about what Bateman has done. On the field he has not been perfect, but he has been good enough. it ie asy to say it is as simple as him being healthy, but for Bateman it is hard to say that this is not the case.
Bateman has proven to be good enough when he is healthy, the offense will be pass heavy, and the players aroudnd him are going to open things up for him deep down the field.