The Baltimore Ravens have a lot of problems at wide receiver, where they enter 2026 with exactly 1 player they can count on, with 2-time Pro Bowler Zay Flowers — and even he hasn’t been exactly the standard-bearer for reliability.
The Ravens need real, concrete depth at the position, and they’re hoping that’s what they got in the 2026 NFL draft when they selected wide receivers in consecutive rounds with 3rd-round pick Ja’Kobi Lane and 4th-round pick Elijah Sarratt.
While Lane might be the 1 with more upside and natural talent, it’s hard not to see Sarratt as the more reliable and more immediately NFL-ready of the 2, with Ebony Bird’s Connor Burke predicting Sarratt is “ready for takeoff” in 2026.
“Could Sarratt be that guy?” Burke wrote on June 28. “Well, judging by what we’ve seen from him this offseason, he’s showing signs of being a starter. Of course, it’s wayyyy too early to tell if he will reach an All-Pro level. Heck, even just becoming a strong option behind Flowers would make it a home-run pick. With Sarratt’s mentality, though, he could achieve much more than that … And even if a starting role isn’t in the cards for Sarratt in year one, he’s ready to do whatever it takes to contribute to a winning formula. He’s got the talent; he just needs to continue riding the wave and take strides each day. The possibilities of what he could become are very intriguing.”
Elijah Sarratt Predicted to ‘Outplay Draft Value’
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton put Sarratt, 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, at the top of his list of rookie wide receivers who could “outplay their draft value” in 2026.
“Lane is a big-play receiver, while Sarratt projects as a physical chain-mover, though the latter produced with more consistency in college at James Madison and Indiana,” Moton wrote. “Sarratt recorded at least eight touchdown receptions in all three of his collegiate campaigns … with the departure of Isaiah Likely in free agency, Sarratt could see more looks in the red zone behind tight end Mark Andrews, who saw a significant drop-off in scoring production between 2024 and 2025.”
The Ravens got big ups from plenty of people for being so bold at wide receiver in the draft — a position where they have highly paid and underperforming talent in place with Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman.
“The Ravens loading up on offense at WR,” The Ball Junkie wrote on its official X account on Saturday. “Jakobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt in the 3rd and 4th rounds. I was getting sick of drafting Rashod Batement in BAL stacks … so I can take shots at these guys.”
“Love the Ravens getting Elijah Sarratt at 115th overall!” Yahoo Sports NFL reporter Matt Harmon wrote on X. “He looks like the perfect candidate to go from a perimeter on-ball college receiver to a condensed Z and big slot in the NFL.”
Elijah Sarratt Part of Fairy Tale Season for Hoosiers
Sarratt led the FBS with 15 receiving touchdowns in 2025 on the way to helping lead the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and the 1st national championship in program history. He also earned a pretty incredible nickname for his ability to get the ball in his hands.
“Big receiver whose competitiveness and elite catch-phase execution allow him to overcome his athletic limitations,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “While he’s nicknamed ‘Waffle House’ because he’s said to be ‘always open,’ Sarratt sees a high number of contested targets versus man coverage. He’s tight-hipped with below-average foot quickness and falls below the line as a separator. Once the throw goes up, however, he consistently beats corners with size, body control and catch-space strength to clean up. He’ll face press matchups that leave his catch column dry, but he’s built and wired for possession targets over the first two levels.”
Sarratt was a zero-star recruit and starred at FCS St. Francis (Pa.) as a true freshman in 2022 then transferred to James Madison in 2023, where he earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors with 82 receptions, 1,191 yards, and 9 touchdowns.
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