One of the mysteries of the Ravens' 2023 offense is why Rashod Bateman's stats didn't match his film.
Bateman stayed healthy for the first time in his NFL career, playing in all but one game and starting 12, but caught just 32 passes for 367 yards and one touchdown.
Whatever the reason, Head Coach John Harbaugh expects it to change. At the NFL Scouting Combine Tuesday, Harbaugh said he thinks Bateman is going to "take a big step" in 2024.
"Rashod is going to get opportunities this year," Harbaugh said. "He ran routes really well. He worked super hard. He was healthy for the first time – even as the year went on, he got healthier, and you could see it in his play.
"The ball got to him, [and] when it did, he made some great plays. The ball is going to get to him a lot more next year. He's going to be ready to go."
Bateman was targeted with 56 passes last season, the fourth-most on the team behind Zay Flowers, Odell Beckham Jr., and Mark Andrews. While Harbaugh is crossing his fingers that Beckham could return this offseason, and DeCosta has been in touch with the veteran wide receiver, Bateman would be in line for a bigger target share if Beckham doesn't return.
A 2021 first-round pick, Bateman missed most of his sophomore season after having foot surgery and was still dealing with the effects of that early last season.
Still, Bateman was getting open. It's just that the ball didn't find him. It was particularly noteworthy on deep passes (at least 20 yards).
Bateman was the first name Harbaugh brought up when asked who he expects to step up next year on the Ravens offense.
Baltimore's 2023 season ended with a thud, particularly on offense, in the 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. But they have an optimistic outlook on how the next iteration of the offense will be better.
Harbaugh said he met with Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken the day after the loss and all the other coaches individually. Two days after that, Harbaugh met with Jackson, and he spoke with other offensive players.
The offense was in its first year under Monken and made great strides, finishing the regular season ranked fourth in points (28.4 per game) and sixth in yards (370.4). But there's still room to grow.
"We're one year into this thing. There are so many things that I feel like, looking back on it now, they actually were baby steps," Harbaugh said. "They were hard steps for us to take because it was a sea change in terms of offensive philosophy, but they were baby steps looking back on them.
"We have so, so far to go. Lamar is excited; Todd is excited; All the coaches [are excited]. … We have a direction right now on where we want to go. We want to be tight. We want to be locked in. We want to understand how this offense applies to Lamar and our players, and we want to do right by our players, and we want to do right by Lamar and build the best operation that we can for him so his talents can really shine. I think we're just starting with that."
