The 2020 collegiate football season may go down as the weirdest season in the history of the sport. Teams in the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have all started playing while the Big Ten just announced their plan to return in late October.
Before the season was canceled, and then announced to be coming back, the Minnesota Gophers star wide receiver announced that he was opting out of the 2020 season and declaring for the NFL Draft. Rashod Bateman is predicted by most analysts to be a first-round draft pick in 2021 and it now sounds like he’s interested in playing one more season with the Gophers.
Yahoo Sports reporter Pete Thamel tweeted out Friday morning that Bateman is back on campus and hoping to play in 2020.
This would be huge news for the Gophers, as they would have had to replace both Tyler Johnson and Bateman’s production from 2019. Bateman finished his 2019 campaign with 60 catches for 1,219 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The announcement of Big Ten football returning had many people excited to get the chance to watch the PJ Fleck and the Gophers in 2020. After a top ten finish in 2019 the Gophers look to build off their strongest season in recent memory. Getting a guy like Bateman back on the roster would only help that cause.