Ravens Week 7 Rookie Report: Bateman shines bright

The rookie wideout was the lone bright spot of an otherwise dreary day for the offense and team as a whole.

The Baltimore Ravens had most of the healthy members from their 2021 rookie class active for their 41-17 blowout loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals. Of all the first-year players that suited up for the game, only one actually stood out while the rest didn’t have much of an impact.

Their active list included wide receiver Rashod Bateman, outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, defensive back Brandon Stephens, and wide receiver Tylan Wallace. Undrafted defensive back Ar’Darius Washington was the only first year player on the active roster that didn’t dress for the game.

Here’s a breakdown of how the rookies fared in Week 7.

WR Rashod Bateman

On a day where the entire team fell flat and came up short, the first-round rookie’s performance was one of the only bright spots and positive takeaways from this game. He set a new career-high and tied for the team lead in receiving with 80 yards by hauling in three of his six targets.

For a second straight week, all of his catches resulted in first downs and moved the chains for the offense. He continued to show the ability to gain separation, especially at the top of his route stem. Bateman also showed the kind of threat he could be after the catch with an average of 26.6 yards per reception. His first two catches went for 20 or more yards and sparked eventual touchdown drives. The playmaking ability that he’s shown over the past two weeks has the Ravens and their fans excited for his promising future.

OLB Odafe Oweh

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The first-round rookie had Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow dead to rights for what would’ve been his fourth career sack on the opening drive of the game but was sidestepped by the second-year signal-caller, who hit his running back for a 23-yard gain instead. That was the only notable play for the first-year edge defender on a relatively quiet afternoon.

Burrow and Bengals did a good job handling the Ravens pass rush for the most part outside of Justin Houston so Oweh wasn’t the only front-seven defender that didn’t have much of an impact in this game. He did struggle when it came to tackling but that wasn’t just a problem with him, the entire defense had issues in that department…again.

DB Brandon Stephens

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The third-round rookie also had a relatively quiet game on defense, playing just under 20 snaps and recording a solo tackle. He allowed a reception to tight end C.J. Uzomah in the second quarter and while he limited him to a 4-yard gain, it was enough to move the chains.

WR Tylan Wallace

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The fourth-round rookie only saw two snaps on offense late in the game when it was well out of hand but before that, he was very active on special teams once again. Wallace recorded a pair of tackles on punt coverage including a solo on the Ravens’ second punt in the first quarter where he limited Bengals returner Darius Phillips to a short 7-yard return.