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The Baltimore Ravens continue to play well in the regular season, but also continue getting knocked out early in the playoffs. Winning is good and getting to the playoffs is good, so they have that going for them, but taking that next step is the true goal.
There’s little doubt that Jim Harbaugh and company will continue to beef up the defense, and will likely go after a safety and edge rusher at some point in the draft. But there’s no-doubt they need more targets for Lamar Jackson. No matter what you think of Jackson as a passer, more and better targets would help them when they face high-powered offenses in the playoffs. But the team has been reluctant to spend much in free agency or the draft on a wide receiver. They rather win with the running game and defense.
This is a deep class of wide receivers though, and an impact player could be available at No. 27 overall. The hope for Jackson and his fantasy football prospects is that they’ll draft a receiver there and wait on defense.
Baltimore Ravens 2021 Draft selections
No. 27: Rashod Bateman, WR
No. 31: Jayson Oweh, DE
No. 94: Ben Cleveland, G
No. 104: Brandon Stephens, CB
No. 131: Tylan Wallace, WR
No. 160: Shaun Wade, CB
No. 171: Daelin Hayes, DE
No. 184: Ben Mason, FB
Fantasy football impact
Rashod Bateman
Bateman can be a versatile playmaker at the next level with the ability to play on the outside as well as in the slot for the Ravens. While he excelled at the college level and is an exciting prospect, Baltimore’s offense features the run more than any other team in the NFL, so there could be a ceiling on his production. This should be a boost to Lamar Jackson and even No. 1 wideout Marquise Brown, while Sammy Watkins will likely see less balls thrown his way as a result of this selection.
Tylan Wallace
Many believed Wallace would go earlier than he did, but that’s likely a good thing for the Ravens. They now have drafted two upside receivers for Lamar Jackson. He’s not ready to make an impact out of the gate, but has the potential to become a WR2/3 without much trouble.