Rashod Bateman Fantasy Football Outlook (2023)

By Derek Brown (FantasyPros), Fri, Sep 1st 2023, 10:36am EDT

Rashod Bateman looked like a receiver on his way to a breakout campaign before his season was derailed by a foot sprain in Week 4 and ultimately ended in Week 8 with a LisFranc injury. In Weeks 1-3, he was the WR34 in fantasy points per game with an 18.8% target share, a 30.3% air yard share, and 3.14 yards per route run. Bateman was also only a 72.7% route per dropback player in that stretch. Bateman's talent is real, but he needs his health to comply. This could be a breaking point season. The team signed Odell Beckham Jr. and drafted Zay Flowers in the first round of the NFL Draft. This will be the best collection of weapons Lamar Jackson has ever had, but that also means it's the most competition for targets Bateman has dealt with during his time in Baltimore. Bateman has the talent to still emerge as the number one receiver in this offense and compete weekly for the team lead in targets with Mark Andrews. He's a WR3/4 that could easily finish as a WR2.