Baltimore Ravens Select Rashod Bateman, Jayson Oweh in First Round

The end of the first round of the 2021 NFL draft has been completed. The Ravens made the most of Thursday night making two selections.

With their first selection the Ravens selected University of Minnesota wide receiver, Rashod Bateman, with the 27th overall selection. The 6’0″, 190 pound pass catcher has a tremendous catch radius and a quick burst upfield turning short routes into big chunk plays. His long strides allow him to take the top off a defense and great contested circus catches.

Bateman saw his most production at Minnesota in 2019 playing in 13 games, catching 60 passes for 1,219 yards and 11 touchdowns. 2020 saw a drop in production however as Bateman dealt with testing positive for Covid-19 during the summer. In only five games for the Golden Gophers in 2020, Bateman caught 36 passes for 472 yards and two touchdowns.

Bateman will need to improve his blocking, something he wasn’t asked to do a lot of to fit into this Baltimore Ravens offense.

Here is his highlight tape:

The night wasn’t over for the Ravens after their 27th pick however. After receiving the 31st overall selection from the Kansas City Chiefs in the Orlando Brown Jr. trade. Many wondered what the Ravens would do with the pick. In the end the Ravens kept the selection and chose defensive end Jayson Oweh out of Penn State.

At 6’5″, 257 pounds Oweh is an elite athlete running a blistering 4.36, 40-yard dash at his pro day. Oweh is a raw player that saw little production at Penn State in terms of stat totals.

In three season, Oweh played in a combined 24 games, totaling 63 career tackles to go along with seven sacks. Oweh recorded no sacks in seven games last season.

However, stats don’t tell the whole story as Oweh’s incredible athletic ability displayed at his pro day and on game tape very clearly displayed his speed off the ball and to the edge. As well as his incredible strength against opposing tackles. That seemed to be enough to convince Ravens GM Eric Decosta and the Baltimore Ravens to select Oweh with their final pick in the first round.

Wink Martindale and the rest of the defensive staff will need to work hard with Oweh in order to make him an elite pass rusher as he learns NFL-caliber pass rush moves.

Here is his highlight tape:

The Ravens currently hold no second round selections heading into Friday, but do have two third round picks at numbers 94 and 104. Baltimore will likely look to add an offense tackle with one of their early picks, a deep position in this years draft.

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