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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pk | Player | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | Rk |
| 2020 | 22 | Justin Jefferson, Min. | 125 | 88 | 1400 | 7 | 6 |
| 2014 | 28 | Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 145 | 73 | 1008 | 9 | 16 |
| 2018 | 26 | Calvin Ridley, Atl. | 92 | 64 | 821 | 10 | 20 |
| 2007 | 23 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 116 | 70 | 995 | 5 | 22 |
| 2009 | 22 | Percy Harvin, Min. | 91 | 60 | 790 | 8 | 23 |
| 2009 | 29 | Hakeem Nicks, NYG | 74 | 47 | 790 | 6 | 33 |
| 2020 | 25 | Brandon Aiyuk, S.F. | 96 | 60 | 748 | 7 | 35 |
| 2018 | 24 | DJ Moore, Car. | 82 | 55 | 788 | 2 | 36 |
| 2006 | 25 | Santonio Holmes, Pitt. | 86 | 49 | 824 | 3 | 38 |
| 2013 | 29 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Min. | 77 | 45 | 469 | 9 | 38 |
| 2010 | 24 | Dez Bryant, Dall. | 73 | 45 | 561 | 8 | 42 |
| 2019 | 25 | Marquise Brown, Balt. | 71 | 46 | 584 | 7 | 46 |
| 2013 | 27 | DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 91 | 52 | 802 | 2 | 49 |
| 2009 | 30 | Kenny Britt, Ten. | 75 | 42 | 701 | 3 | 52 |
| 2005 | 21 | Matt Jones, Jac. | 69 | 36 | 432 | 5 | 53 |
| 2005 | 22 | Mark Clayton, Balt. | 87 | 44 | 471 | 3 | 55 |
| 2016 | 21 | Will Fuller, Hou. | 92 | 47 | 635 | 3 | 61 |
| 2007 | 32 | Anthony Gonzalez, Ind. | 51 | 37 | 576 | 3 | 66 |
| 2005 | 27 | Roddy White, Atl. | 69 | 29 | 446 | 3 | 71 |
| 2001 | 30 | Reggie Wayne, Ind. | 49 | 27 | 345 | 0 | 86 |
| 2001 | 25 | Freddie Mitchell, Phil. | 43 | 21 | 283 | 1 | 89 |
| 2020 | 21 | Jalen Reagor, Phil. | 54 | 31 | 396 | 2 | 91 |
| 2010 | 22 | Demaryius Thomas, Den. | 39 | 22 | 283 | 2 | 95 |
| 2007 | 30 | Craig Davis, S.D. | 34 | 20 | 188 | 1 | 106 |
| 2011 | 26 | Jonathan Baldwin, K.C. | 52 | 21 | 254 | 1 | 108 |
| 2015 | 29 | Phillip Dorsett, Ind. | 39 | 18 | 225 | 1 | 110 |
| 2004 | 31 | Rashaun Woods, S.F. | 23 | 7 | 160 | 1 | 122 |
| 2019 | 32 | N'Keal Harry, N.E. | 24 | 12 | 105 | 2 | 124 |
| 2004 | 29 | Michael Jenkins, Atl. | 20 | 7 | 119 | 0 | 136 |
| 2016 | 22 | Josh Doctson, Was. | 6 | 2 | 66 | 0 | 169 |
| 2016 | 23 | Laquon Treadwell, Min. | 3 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 187 |
| 2012 | 30 | A.J. Jenkins, S.F. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195 |
| 2015 | 26 | Breshad Perriman, Balt. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
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