First-round NFL Draft picks who overcame bust standing: Ravens’ Rashod Bateman the newest to show profession round

The Baltimore Ravens rewarded one of their own this week, signing wide receiver Rashod Bateman to a three-year contract extension that’ll pay the pass catcher an average of more than $12 million per season. The deal isn’t necessarily a surprise, considering Bateman finished the 2024 NFL season as one of Baltimore’s top offensive weapons, but it’s noted confirmation of the wideout’s improved standing with one of the league’s top perennial title contenders.

Bateman, see, hasn’t always been widely respected — even internally — since arriving as a first-round draft pick in 2021. Two years into his career, in fact, the Minnesota product had a short-lived public spat with Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, who suggested at the time the club had failed to draft and develop reliable receivers in the wake of Bateman’s early-career injury woes.

Entering 2025, the two sides evidently couldn’t be happier with each other. It’s a testament to patience in a league often driven by a hunger for immediate results. And Bateman isn’t the first player to improve after rocky beginnings.

Here are some key first-round draft picks of the last 10 years who eventually overcame their “bust” status:

Goff lost all seven of the starts he made under Jeff Fisher as a rookie with the Los Angeles Rams, totaling more turnovers (9) than games played. Once Sean McVay arrived a year later, however, the California product quickly vaulted into the Pro Bowl conversation. Since then, he’s appeared in a Super Bowl, relocated to the Detroit Lions and led a separate NFC contender to the conference title game. He enters 2025 coming off two straight 30-touchdown seasons as a borderline top-10 starter.

Baker Mayfield having fun in the sun: Buccaneers QB has finally found his warm and fuzzy place in the NFL

Pete Prisco

Though infectiously spirited, Mayfield endured two losing seasons as the Cleveland Browns’ starter from 2018-2019, then succumbed to injuries following a playoff bid and exited on not-so-pretty terms once the team went all in for Deshaun Watson. Bouncing between two other clubs as a backup seemed to confirm his mercurial hand. Then he recharged in Tampa, replacing Tom Brady with surprisingly explosive results, throwing a combined 69 touchdowns as the face of the Buccaneers.

Detroit drafting Williams was perceived as a major gamble, given the wideout suffered a torn ACL to close his Alabama career. Williams then missed all but six games as a rookie, hauling in just a single catch. He was equally unpredictable in 2023, missing four games as a result of a gambling-related suspension. Then his blazing speed finally stuck as a third-year vet, when he cleared 1,000 yards, averaging more than 17 yards per catch, as Jared Goff’s top deep threat in Detroit.

A premium investment at a position badly needing firepower in Baltimore, Bateman was hardly available for his first two NFL seasons, missing a combined 16 games due to various injuries. He then took a backseat to rookie Zay Flowers in 2023. Things finally clicked in Year 4, however, when he logged a career-best 756 yards and nine scores, plus another two touchdowns in the playoffs. The growth earned Bateman a new deal as one of Lamar Jackson’s most trusted targets.

The USC product hauled in just 52% of passes thrown his way in his first two seasons, becoming a Philadelphia-area punching bag for his penchant for untimely drops. Agholor adopted a more authoritative approach in 2017, however, igniting for eight scores and leading the Eagles with nine catches in their Super Bowl LII upset of the New England Patriots. He parlayed the rebound into seven more seasons as a quality secondary target around the NFL, including for the Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders.

The Arizona Cardinals tried to make Reddick, a pure pass rusher out of Temple, become more of an every-down linebacker, resulting in an eerily quiet start for the defender; he managed just 7.5 sacks in his first three seasons. A contract-year breakout allowed him to cash in as a free agent with both the Panthers and Eagles, however, and his tenacity off the edge had a direct hand in Philadelphia’s 2022 Super Bowl bid. He finished that season with 16 sacks and an NFL-leading five forced fumbles.

Entering Green Bay with injury concerns thanks to a shoulder issue at Michigan, Gary managed just two sacks as a rookie, then earned just four starts as a second-year veteran in the Packers’ pass rushing corps. Since then, the explosive big man has totaled 32 sacks and 31 tackles for loss in his last four seasons, despite missing half of 2022 with an ACL tear. While he’s yet to become a steadily elite edge presence, his improved run support also helped Green Bay’s defense turn a corner in 2024.

There must be something with Eagles pass rushers, huh? Smith was viewed as a potential draft-day steal, sliding to Philly after a promising Georgia career, but was practically invisible as a rookie, logging a single sack as a pure bench player. He was similarly quiet to open Year 2, going four games without a sack. Then he found a new gear under Vic Fangio, finishing 2024 as one of the forces that helped the Eagles dominate Super Bowl LIX. He enters 2025 as a prime candidate to fill Brandon Graham’s shoes.

Durability was a major concern for Stingley coming out of LSU, and the concerns were validated when he missed basically half his rookie season with ankle and hamstring issues. Those bumps and bruises also forced him out of six contests to start Year 2. When upright, however, he’s been one of the NFL’s top ballhawks, combining for 12 interceptions and 34 pass breakups, including playoffs, since 2023. DeMeco Ryans’ stingy Houston Texans defense relies heavily on his cover skills.