Elijah Sarratt May Be The Ravens "Other" Rookie WR For Now, But He's Making Strides Too

The Ravens haven’t played a preseason game yet and have had but a handful of padded practices, and already Elijah Sarratt is the “other” rookie wide receiver.

The Baltimore native hasn’t had the string of eye-popping catches as fellow rookie Ja’Kobi Lane and he hasn’t been the subject of growing social media lore and he’s had a perfectly reasonable indoctrination into the very early stages of his NFL career without any setbacks or issues. He just hasn’t been conjuring up perhaps outsized expectations based on practice production, which isn’t a bad thing by any stretch.

The Ravens record of identifying and developing college talent at this position is incredibly sketchy. Their history of having first and second year players create quite a stir in OTAs or the first two weeks of training camp is littered with names who go on to be quickly forgotten. One strongly suspects that neither Lane, their third-round pick, nor Sarratt, a Baltimore native who was their fourth-round pick, fall into either of those buckets. But projecting too much out of what either has done to this point is a tricky proposition as well.

Sarratt, like Lane, isn’t making too much out of how things have gone so far.

Being able to practice everyday and hit the post and learn and absorb is progress. Avoiding the kind of soft tissue problems that can erode a first training camp at this position and earn trust and respect is a quality in and of itself. A lot of the dirty work Sarratt is going to be asked to do won’t come with a highlight reel attached to it, by design, and it’s far too early to be projecting for any of these youngsters.

Both are adopting a commendable outward mindset about the process.

"Just know every day's not going to be perfect,” Sarratt explained. “You're going to have ups and downs, but just continue to find those little ways to get better. You need to be coachable. Number one, you have to be coachable.

“Like I said, there are so many great people in this NFL — defense, offense — and playing against a great defense every single day. So just listening to everybody, trying to earn people's trust and just continue to get better - stack days.”

Slow And Steady Progress

This weekend will be the first true test for all of the rookies, and these receivers figure to get quite a run.

Hopefully, veteran back-up Skylar Thompson, the third-string QB dealing with what head coach Jesse Minter termed a minor injury, will be able to play against the Eagles. Having him behind presumptive exhibition starter Snoop Huntley will gives these kids a measure of accuracy and veteran presence that will go quite a ways in a setting like this, where quarterback play can be outright rotten and negate the ability to assess the pass catchers.

The Eagles boast one of the premier secondaries in the NFL and not that the top dogs will be playing much, and not that defensive guru Vic Fangio will be throwing a regular-season game plan at them, either, but it’s a quality roster all the way around. This is a real opportunity to begin to separate.

“We have a great group of guys that are invested in being complete receivers,” receivers coach Keary Colbert said of a group that lacks much NFL experience besides Zay Flowers (who won’t play Saturday and is nursing an injury himself) and Rashod Bateman. “And doing whatever it takes to help the offense and help the team. So, I'm excited to watch the guys compete, to block, to catch, to run, to play special teams [and] to do whatever we can to help this organization win.”

Sarratt was a playmaker and chain mover for the national title Indiana Hoosiers and was a go-to guy for quarterback Fernando Mendoza, whom the Raiders drafted first-overall. The St. Francis product knows that doesn’t mean much at all now, and understands it’s going to take a lot to work his way up this depth chart, starting with checking as many boxes as he can Saturday night.

Sarratt needs to find his way in high-traffic situations – which attracted him to front offices and scouts in the pre-draft process – and be able to present an attractive target for Lamar Jackson even if defenders want to drape all over him. The Ravens loved the size that Sarratt (6-2) and Lane (6-4) provide and using them as Jokers to run tight end concepts is certainly something rookie coordinator Declan Doyle – borrowing heavily from his mentor Sean Payton – has in mind

“Windows are a little tighter, so I have to make contested catches,” Sarratt said. “Like, even when someone's on you, you have to have the mentality that you're open still. Yes, windows are a little tighter, like I said, people are a little faster, but football's football. I've been feeling confident going out there. I've been learning from the best, so just keep stacking days."

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