Former Gophers receiver Rashod Bateman's draft prospects rising

Rashod Bateman’s numbers posted before scouts at his pro day carry more weight than statistics from an interrupted final season at the University of Minnesota.In the days after Rashod Bateman's breakout 2019 season, as the Gophers celebrated an Outback Bowl win over Auburn while a mysterious virus was unknown to most of the world, the receiver's path to the first round of the 2021 NFL draft seemed wide open.

The fact he contracted COVID-19 over the summer put multiple switchbacks into Bateman's final year with the Gophers, which initially seemed destined for cancellation and eventually ended with his second opt-out in November. A calendar year that began with talk of Bateman leading the…