The Ravens have some question marks at wide receiver.
Steve Smith Sr. retired and veteran Mike Wallace has been speculated as a potential salary-cap casualty because of his $8 million salary next season. Head Coach John Harbaugh said he plans on Wallace returning.
Another part of the uncertainty at the position is that the Ravens have young players in Breshad Perriman and Chris Moore who both have loads of potential, but still have significant room to grow. As the Ravens assess their roster this offseason, they have high hopes that Perriman and Moore can develop into reliable targets for quarterback Joe Flacco.
"We have two young guys that we are really excited about," Head Coach John Harbaugh said at the NFL Scouting Combine Wednesday.
Perriman, the Ravens' first-round pick of the 2015 draft, was essentially a rookie last season. He missed the entire 2015 season because of a knee injury sustained on the first day of training camp, and then he had another unrelated knee injury last spring that kept him out of practice until the middle of training camp.
He eventually got back on the field, but the injuries gave him a steep learning curve. He had to quickly adjust to the NFL game and also develop chemistry with Flacco. He had his moments last season where he flashed with big plays and showed game-breaking speed, but he was mostly the team's No. 3 receiver behind Smith and Wallace.
"He's super talented," Harbaugh said. "I think Breshad has really come a long way in terms of his work ethic, his attention to detail, his professionalism. He's young. This guy was a young guy coming in here.
"He missed a whole year with an injury that was kind of a shocker. Everybody was scratching their head about it. It was really tough for him. It was frustrating for him. He came back last year with a great work ethic and I thought he improved throughout the course of the year."
Perriman played in all 16 games last season, catching 33 passes for 499 yards and three touchdowns. He'll likely be in store for a much larger workload this year, depending on what the Ravens do in free agency and the draft.
The Ravens want to see Perriman emerge as a true No. 1 receiver, which is what they envisioned when they used the No. 26-overall pick on him.
"I really think Breshad Perriman can be a top-flight receiver in this league," Harbaugh said. "He's talented, he's tough, he works hard. And he's really fast. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does."
Moore, a fourth-round pick in last year's draft, had little production in his rookie campaign. The Cincinnati product was heralded for his ability to stretch the field in college, but his opportunities were limited last year.
He played in 15 games, mostly as a special teamer, and caught seven passes for 46 yards and no touchdowns. He'll have to make big strides over the next few months to carve out a significant role in the offense, but Harbaugh could see him developing in a playmaker the Ravens covet.
"He has an amazing knack to track a football," Harbaugh said. "He has great body control. He has hand-eye skills. I think he's going to become a really good route runner. He has speed. He has down-field ability. He has a chance to be kind of a complete receiver."
