Steve Smith, the Baltimore Ravens’ leading receiver in 2014, retired. Kamar Aiken, the go-to target in 2015, is an unrestricted free agent. And Mike Wallace, the most productive wideout last season, has been mentioned as a salary-cap casualty.
Who is going to step up into a leading role for Baltimore in 2017? The Ravens believe it could be slow-developing first-round pick Breshad Perriman.
“I sure hope that Breshad Perriman becomes a true No. 1,” coach John Harbaugh said at the end of the season. “To me, there are signs that is possible. But he has a ways to go; he has a lot of work to do to get it done. You see the radius and you see the speed, and I think you see that here is a guy who has a chance.”
In order for Perriman to become the No. 1 receiver, he has to become more than a two-dimensional one. A majority of his 33 receptions from last season came on either fly or drag routes. Perriman proved he can run past cornerbacks deep downfield and he can zip past defenders after catching short passes in stride. The rest of his game remains a question mark.
His limited route tree is a big factor why he wasn’t more involved in the offense. Perriman ran 320 routes last season and he caught a pass on just 10.3 percent of them, which ranked 64th in the league among wide receivers with at least 30 catches. He is more of a project than the Ravens anticipated. Coaches had to start with the basics with Perriman, teaching him how to properly line up in a stance.
When you look at the Ravens’ top receivers in the past — specifically Smith and Derrick Mason — they were able to get open on their route-running ability and didn’t rely solely on their speed. They were able to get off the line for slants, they shook off defenders on comeback routes and they got out of their breaks on out patterns.
“The thing that I like most about it is now I know exactly what I need to work on,” Perriman said. “I am excited.”
Taking a wide receiver early in the draft is the best way to find a No. 1 receiver. Over the past three seasons, six of the top nine players in receiving yards were selected in the first round: Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., Demaryius Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Evans and A.J. Green.
Unlike those receivers, Perriman has had an extremely rough start to his career since being the No. 26 overall pick in 2015. A partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee sidelined him for his entire rookie season, and a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last offseason forced him to miss most of 2016 training camp.
“I think it’s going to be a huge advantage for me,” Perriman said. “There’s no more rehabbing. It’s just straight to work on the things that I know I need to get better at. So I’m looking forward to it.”
Some of that work involves meeting up with quarterback Joe Flacco. The first time Perriman caught a pass from Flacco last year was Aug. 22, and it was apparent that Flacco didn’t fully trust Perriman.
Flacco had as many interceptions (three) as touchdowns when throwing to Perriman. His rating on passes to Perriman was 72.5. Flacco’s rating when throwing to all the other wide receivers was 92.4 (10 touchdowns, five interceptions).
That obviously has to change if Perriman is going to become Flacco’s prime target.
“I see and hear some of the expectations that go around, but at the end of the day, my expectations are always higher,” Perriman said. “So it doesn’t surprise me, and it doesn’t shock me at all. I just try to go out there and not really worry about the expectations, but do what I know and do what I do best.”
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