Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman opts out, declares for 2021 NFL draft

A big loss for the Big Ten as Bateman is the Gophers' best NFL prospect since 2006 first round pick Laurence Maroney

The best receiver in the Big Ten – and quite possibly all of college football – announced via social media on Tuesday that he is taking his game to the NFL.

“I am now making the hardest decision I have ever had to make in my life,” Minnesota junior wideout Rashod Bateman says in the opening of a nearly two minute long video of his highlights, including from the 2019 season in which he was named the Big Ten’s Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year.

Wishing well❤️ pic.twitter.com/fxV1FI7r7o

— Rashod Bateman (@R_bateman2) August 4, 2020

Bateman joins Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley as the second high profile college football star choosing to opt out of the entire 2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Like Farley, Bateman’s talent is immediately clear on tape, earning a comparison in my full scouting report to Cleveland Browns’ star Odell Beckham, Jr. due to his suddenness, body control and ability to make circus grabs appear routine.

Rashod Bateman's sophomore season pic.twitter.com/DoUnBcLgs8

— Mostly Always (@Mostly_Always) July 8, 2020

In just two years at Minnesota, the 6-1, 205 pound Bateman recorded 111 receptions for 1,923 yards and 17 scores, racing up draft boards in the process.

He proved an immediate standout, collecting 51 passes for 704 yards and six touchdowns as a true freshman before breaking out last year, nearly doubling his production (1,219 yards and 11 touchdowns) despite catching just nine more passes.

The jump from 13.8 yards per catch in 2018 to an eye-popping 20.3 last year is a bit deceptive as Bateman does not appear to possess elite straight-line speed, an area he surely will work on in the coming months.

The 6-1, 205 pound Bateman is the best NFL prospect at Minnesota since at least 2006, when the New England Patriots used the 21st overall selection on running back Laurence Maroney.

He currently ranks second on NFLDraftScout.com’s receiver rankings for 2021, behind only LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase, the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner and nation’s leading scorer among receivers last year with 20 touchdowns.