Five best picks of the first-round of the 2021 NFL Draft

With the first of their two first-round selections following their trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens make sure to get Lamar Jackson help at receiver following a tumultuous 2020 campaign that saw the Baltimore offense stumble without their dominant rushing attack. Having displayed a preference for undersized, speedy receivers in the mold of Marquise Brown, Baltimore bucks the trend for the receiver their offense has needed.

With one of the best release packages among all receivers in the 2021 NFL Draft, Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman played exceptionally as a high-volume target moving the chains in the Golden Gophers RPO offense. Creating instant separation off of the snap, Bateman uses his frame effectively to box out corners on short-breaking in-routes in order to create the easiest possible completions for his quarterback.

Alongside Brown and Buffalo castaway Sammy Watkins, Bateman can cement himself as a go-to target to move the sticks for the Ravens offense.

Jackson has had to carry the load on third-down much of the time in Baltimore’s offense with his innate playmaking ability, but adding a target as effective as Bateman will not only take pressure off of the shoulders of Jackson but enable him to mature as a quarterback with efficient completions to manage the game more fully.