Ja’Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Kyle Pitts are the 2021 NFL Draft prospects most closely tied to the Miami Dolphins throughout the course of early draft speculation ahead of this April’s event. This group of targets is considered the “best of the best”, which a reasonable chance that all four of these players have their names called within the first ten to twelve picks. But the Dolphins will have the opportunity to make selections at wide receiver across many different pressure points of the draft, never mind needing to take one at No. 3 overall with no questions asked.
Enter Rashod Bateman — the former Minnesota Golden Gopher who was all the rage on social media yesterday after he reportedly ran a 4.39s 40-yard dash at his EXOS Training Combine workout.
For Bateman, who is listed at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, to check in with that kind of speed? Needless to say he has a strong chance of boosting his draft profile if that number can be confirmed to teams. But Bateman isn’t some “off the radar” target, he was a two-year standout at Minnesota with the Gophers program and would absolutely bring quality play into the Dolphins’ offense. As a matter of fact, his projection to the Dolphins can be equally as appealing as some of the other names on the list; and Miami should theoretically be able to see him on the board with the No. 18 pick.
Bateman logged 20.3 yards per catch in 2019 with Minnesota on 60 receptions and scored 11 touchdowns, too. The Gophers offense required a lot of in-breaking patterns and was a system that often charged Bateman with running into the teeth of the defense on run-pass option concepts. If that sounds familiar, it should. The Dolphins did a lot of the same this past year with Tua Tagovailoa at the helm.
As the Dolphins continue to vet players for their draft class, the emergence of players like Rashod Bateman to confirm their athletic ability will be valuable to seeing Miami build out a more diverse set of avenues and possibilities. But for now, Bateman has done well to give the Dolphins another option at wide receive; one that won’t cost them a top-5 pick to secure.
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