I must admit that after the Ravens made the pick for Breshad Perriman I was underwhelmed. Yes, he has the bloodlines, grew up around the game and he has measurables that are off the chart.
But those hands – ugh!
No one will mistake Breshad for Odell Beckham, Jr.
Yet as I so often do, I defer to the experts at The Castle who I’m pretty sure know a little more about football than I do. Maybe they know more than you too. I’m sure they know more than the media that “grades” their work.
Remember Mark Schlereth and Haloti Ngata?
The Ravens see Perriman as a bigger and faster version of Torrey Smith with the potential to be a better route runner. They also believe that after Joe Hortiz and Bobby Engram worked him out, his hands are “way better” than Smith’s, per a source. Think Josh Gordon without the baggage.
Perhaps more importantly the Ravens get a complementary player who allows other offensive players to perform better due to the space that Perriman’s blazing speed will provide.
“You have a guy that with that type of speed, bringing that vertical presence … What it does is it makes Steve [Smith, Sr.], Kamar [Aiken], Marlon [Brown], the tight ends – and hopefully we’ll get some tight ends tomorrow or the next day – it just makes all of those guys better”, said Ozzie Newsome after making the UCF Knight the team’s 2015 first round pick.
“And it makes our running guy – Justin [Forsett] – I said, ‘It will be hard to put the eighth guy or the extra guy in the box when you have a guy like that, that can take the top off the defense.”
In the end, if you were a Torrey Smith fan, this pick makes a ton of sense. The Ravens get all of the attributes of Smith plus better size and speed for about $25 million less over the next 4 to 5 seasons.
OTHER DRAFT NOTES
I’m hearing that the Ravens expected their pick to be Washington Huskies corner Marcus Peters. Apparently after completing their due diligence they were comfortable with Peters’ well reported character issues. There may be some mild disappointment in the Ravens war room that it didn’t go down that way since there appears to be more remaining draft depth at WR than CB.
Shane Ray would not have been the pick for the Ravens. A slightly twitchy John Elway jumped up in front of the Ravens fearing Ozzie might grab Ray. The Broncos are apparently “high” on the idea of teaming Ray with Von Miller and Marcus Ware. By the way, gift certificates at the hemp boutiques DO count against the salary cap.
Jameis Winston posing with crab legs following his selection as the draft’s No. 1 overall? If I’m Lovie Smith I’m already worried…Marcus Mariota, that’s Mary-Oh-Tah Roger Goodell. He’s only the reigning Heisman Trophy Winner…Hard to believe that the draft’s best player DT Leonard Williams slipped to the Jets at No. 6…Nelson Agholor is the receiver I wanted to see fall to the Ravens. (Overall was hoping for Wake Forest’s Kevin Johnson.) He reminds me of a slightly faster version of Chad Johnson. A polished player.
In the AFC North it’s not often that you can say the Cleveland Browns did well – but they did. I so wanted them to dump the picks and more to move up for Mariota (a player who I don’t think will ultimately prove to be worthy of the second pick in the draft). They solidify both lines with DT Danny Shelton and the versatile OL Cameron Erving.
The Bengals selection of OT Cedric Ogbuehi was a head scratcher. He may prove to be a solid pick in the future but Marvin’s boys failed to improve in Round 1 for the 2015 season…The Steelers get a solid pick with Bud Dupree, the type of edge rusher that the Steelers are known for. We’ll see if he’s an upgrade over the bust in-the-making Jarvis Jones, who was taken with the 17th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Good news for the Ravens, the Steelers failed to address their biggest need at corner while Ozzie adds a burner in Perriman.
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