Lamar Jackson’s New Redzone Cheat Code: Baltimore Ravens Draft Late-Round Stud WR Elijah Sarratt
Lamar Jackson may have just found his new favorite redzone target. After being one of the best players in college football just last year, Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt fell into the hands of the Ravens in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. With how shallow the depth is at wide receiver in Baltimore, Sarratt looks to be the perfect fit for Lamar as his WR2 behind Zay Flowers.
I ranked Elijah Sarratt as high as my WR5 pre-draft, but his value has taken quite the hit around the community since the 2026 NFL Draft after the Baltimore Ravens selected Ja’Kobi Lane the round before they drafted Sarratt. Despite this, Sarratt is still the No. 6 ranked wide receiver on my board in this rookie class.
To be completely honest, I do not see any reason why Sarratt should be falling to round 4 of this past NFL Draft, even behind his new fellow teammate, Ja’Kobi. With this 2026 class being one of the worst in recent memory regarding skill positions, it is hard to believe Sarratt fell as low as he did considering the production.
As a true freshman in 2022 with Saint Francis, Sarratt caught 42 receptions for 700 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns — earning himself FCS Freshman All-American honors. He then transferred to James Madison where he racked up the 11th-most receiving yards in the nation in 2023 on 82 receptions that went for 1,191 receiving yards.
He followed his JMU Head Coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana where he again produced in his first year in the Big 10, catching 53 balls for 957 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. In his final season, he again flashed his innate feel for the end zone by scoring the most receiving touchdowns in college football with a whopping 15 despite missing two games.
Over the course of his career, Sarratt had 239 receptions for 3,652 receiving yards and 44 receiving touchdowns, which ended up ranking as the 7th-most ever in the history of college football. His 3,652 receiving yards, 44 touchdowns, and 54 contested catches were also the most in college football since 2022.
After two seasons in Bloomington, Sarratt ended up accounting for 32.2% of his teams’ total receiving yards and touchdowns throughout his collegiate career (62nd percentile college dominator rating), while boasting a 24% target share (68th percentile). Thanks to his early start at St. Francis, he also has a breakout age of 19.3 (83rd percentile).
He ranked in the top-7 in PFF Receiving Grade (amongst 250-plus WRs, min. 50 targets) in both the 2023 season with James Madison and 2025 season with Indiana. His 90.2 PFF Receiving Grade placed him ahead of both Tetairoa McMillan (86.9) and Marvin Harrison Jr. (89.6) in his Billetnikoff-winning season, while trailing just behind Luther Burden III (91.0) and Malik Nabers (93.1). In 2025, the only 2026 Rookie WRs that had higher PFF Receiving Grades than Sarratt (87.3) were Carnell Tate (89.0) and another Biletnikoff Award winner, Makai Lemon (91.4).
Diving deeper into the metrics, Sarratt ranked 2nd in receiving yards per team play (2.51) amongst this 2026 WR Class behind what many crowned the WR1 pre-draft, Jordyn Tyson (2.54). Sarratt also had a 27.78% receiving yards market share, which was the 3rd-best in this class. Sarratt is one of just three wide receivers in this class with a positive experience-adjusted production. Tyson leads the class at 0.52, KC Concepcion follows at 0.14, and Sarratt is just behind him at 0.13 (per Marvin Elequin).
Amongst the drafted wide receivers in this year’s class, Sarratt had far and away the best total career EPA, with the next closest being Jordyn Tyson. It is hard to believe how low he’s being valued based merely off of draft capital.
Sarratt also had the second-highest touchdown rate and third-highest first-down rate amongst all drafted wide receivers in this class. He certainly looks as though he is in the upper-tier of 2026 WRs here.
The only wide receivers drafted that averaged more than 3.0 yards per route run versus man coverage in this 2026 Rookie Class were Jordyn Tyson and Makai Lemon. Sarratt was also far more efficient than Tyson versus zone coverage and ranked as one of the best in the class.
It’s important to note that Sarratt played alongside both Omar Cooper Jr. (who was drafted in the first round by the Jets) and Charlie Becker (a top 2027 WR prospect). Despite this, Sarratt still put up numbers in both of his season with the Hoosiers. In comparison to his teammate who was selected in the first round, Sarratt put up a healthy 53-957-8 stat-line in 2024 with 2.76 yards per route run and 16 contested catches — while Cooper Jr. posted 28-594-7 with 2.45 yards per route run and 6 contested catches.
According to Joseph Bryan’s model, Sarratt’s collegiate production put his career production score in the 88th percentile. That ranked higher than all of the first round wideouts (Carnell Tate, Makai Lemon, KC Concepcion, and Omar Cooper Jr) outside of Jordyn Tyson.
The main concern people seem to have with Elijah Sarratt is his surrounding environment and how he will produce as the WR2 in the Baltimore Ravens run-heavy offense. Rashod Bateman has not exactly lived up the expectations he once had as a prospect — Sarratt may be able to deliver.
Sarratt brings a 6’2 (81st percentile), 210 pound (74th percentile) frame with reliable, 10 inch hands (93rd percentile) to the table for the Ravens to use at their discretion. He is also one of, if not the best redzone weapon at the receiver position in this class and is as good as any wide receiver in the country when it comes to intermediate routes versus zone coverages.
If I were to make a recent player comparison for Sarratt, it would be Tetairoa McMillan-lite. Sarratt has similar overall size, hand size, arm length, forty-time, and route-running capabilities in comparison to McMillan. Obviously we know there’s a major difference in a blue-chip level prospect and a fourth-rounder, but in terms of play style — I do enjoy this comparison.
I’ve luckily been able to grab Sarratt in nearly every Dynasty Rookie Draft so far this offseason, and he seems to be landing between the middle and end of the second-round. I’m taking that value nearly every single time.
If you’re on the clock in Round 2 and don’t love Denzel Boston, Chris Bell, Antonio Williams, Germie Bernard, Zachariah Branch (who I am higher on), or De’Zhaun Stribling (one of my stronger fades) — I’d highly advise trading back and taking Sarratt. To be more clear, I personally would draft Elijah Sarratt over all of those players and you will likely see those other WRs being taken before him (as I did below in a recent Dynasty Rookie Draft). Omar Cooper Jr. is where we have our debate.
