Scott Garceau: Ravens Go With Perriman In Round One
It's not comforting to hear that the pass catcher the Ravens drafted in the first round has trouble catching passes. That's the scouting report on wide receiver Breshad Perriman who comes to Baltimore after his junior year at Central Florida. While sceptics look at an ugly 14% drop rate the Ravens see a combination of size and speed that's hard to find. That's why some of the "experts" had Perriman ranked as high as third or fourth among the talented crop of receivers eligible for this year's draft.
The sceptics might also point out the Ravens horrible track record at drafting wide receivers, Ozzie Newsome one of the best in the business at building teams through the draft has failed miserably at this position. His first round picks Travis Taylor (2000) and Mark Clayton ('05) didn't click. Patrick Johnson was a second round miss in 1998.
Third and fourth round whiffs include the likes of Ron Johnson (4th), Devard Darling (3rd), Yamon Figurs (3rd), Marcus Smith (4th), and Tandon Doss (4th). Full disclosure, there were a few good selections like Jermaine Lewis in the 5th round of the Ravens first draft in 1996, Brandon Stokley was a nice 4th round pick in 1999 and the recently departed Torrey Smith was a 2nd round winner in 2011. But more bad than good, In the last 15 drafts Torrey Smith is all the Ravens have to show at wide receiver.
Past failure shouldn't inhibit future ambition, example Joe Flacco. Through his first 12 drafts Newsome had little to show for the most important position in the game, but he didn't blink in 2008 and the Ravens found their franchise quarterback in the lanky kid from Delaware. Now they're betting on a 6-2,212 wide receiver who ran a blazing 40-yard dash in 4.24 seconds at his pro day.
Breshard Perriman comes from good stock; his dad Brett Perriman caught 525 passes for 30 touchdowns in a 10 year NFL career. Will his son take off in his first season like the class of 2014? Last year 3 rookies went over the 1,000 yard receiving mark (Evans, Beckham Jr, Benjamin) and Sammy Watkins was close with 977.
Joe Flacco and new offensive coordinator Marc Trestman have a talented new weapon and Ravens fans can't wait to see him, but they might be wondering if this first round pass catcher can consistently catch passes.
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