Rashod Bateman Week 1 Outlook - Ravens at Chiefs

By Derek Brown (FantasyPros), Wed, Sep 4th 2024, 8:38pm EDT

Bateman is the sneaky flex play in this game. Last year, his overall numbers weren't great, but he was extremely effective against two-high coverage. Last year, the Chiefs utilized two-high at the highest rate in the NFL (67.8%). Against two-high, Bateman had an 18% target per route run rate, which was only a small tick behind Flowers (19%), but Bateman produced 1.82 yards per route run while also ranking second on the team against two-high with 0.34 fantasy points per route run. With a strong total and a close (ish) spread, there will be scoring in this game, and if Baltimore can keep up their end of that bargain, Bateman should be part of the scoring onslaught. He will run most of his routes on the boundary against Trent McDuffie (63.3% catch rate and 95.5 passer rating) and Joshua Williams (41.1% catch rate and 74.4 passer rating).