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It’s good news for Baltimore Ravens fans that Lamar Jackson doesn’t believe he’s peaked yet. And Jackson said this year’s roster is loaded. However, here is one surprising Ravens player who could make or break the team’s 2025 NFL season.
There’s little doubt that the Ravens will run the football with authority. So all that needs to happen for the team to vault itself into the NFL’s best team is for the receivers to provide threats week in and week out. That would make the Ravens’ offense almost unstoppable.
And the surprising player who could lift the receiver room is Rashod Bateman.
The Ravens have a good WR1 with Zay Flowers. He should continue to get better as he moves into year three in the NFL. They also have a good WR3 in DeAndre Hopkins, along with a pair of dynamic tight end threats in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.
But life in the NFL is tough. And Bateman has to be a standout WR2 if the Ravens are going to reach their goal of the Super Bowl.
Batment enters his fifth season. The Ravens grabbed him in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. However, Bateman hasn’t posted first-round statistics. Still, he proved to be much more effective in 2024, totaling career highs with 756 yards receiving and nine touchdown catches.
If he can up the receiving yards to 900-plus and still find the end zone consistently, the Ravens’ offense is going to hum like an engine.
The praise is already coming Bateman’s way, according to a post on X by Kevin Oestreicher.
Rashod Bateman earns HIGH praise from @RickRitterWJZ
“Rashod is as talented of a No. 2 WR in this league as you have anywhere else…DeVonta Smith, Tee Higgins, Davante Adams, Rashod is in that category”
And that’s exactly what the Ravens need from Bateman. If he provides elite WR2 play, defenses won’t know who to focus on. Do they worry about Henry pounding them? Jackson running circles around them? Flowers getting free all day? They can’t focus on Bateman, and that’s why he always needs to be ready for the killer blow to a defense.
The Ravens know the importance of Bateman. That’s why they gave him a three-year, $36.75 million extension this summer. Also, he received $20 million guaranteed.
Bateman said the contract matters, according to espn.com.
“I just know I can play ball, and it’s like everybody knows that now, and I’m not here to prove that to nobody,” Bateman said. “I work for the Ravens; I work for Lamar Jackson, technically. If these guys are pleased with what I’m doing and my work ethic and all of that, then I feel like, as a team, that’s important to me. So I’ve done that. And I’m definitely looking to continue to build off of that for sure.
“It’s kind of how this league works. You get...
