Ravens WR Breshad Perriman enters a very favorable position to put up some big numbers in his rookie season. He is the decided favorite to begin the season as a starter over Marlon Brown, Kamar Aiken and Michael Campanaro. He has a shot to become the Ravens' No. 1 receiver because coach John Harbaugh talked about how he wanted to reduce Steve L Smith's snaps to save on his wear and tear. And Perriman's speed is the perfect complement to Joe Flacco's strong arm.

Perriman probably won't make many short lists for rookie of the year before the season, because he's considered a more raw prospect than some of the wide receivers taken in the first round. He has to improve his route running and consistency catching the ball, which is why he fell to the Ravens at No. 26 overall.

"We got a guy with a tremendous amount of talent who’s only going to get better," assistant general manager Eric DeCosta said. "I’m not going to say he’s 'elite' or this or that, but he’s a very talented guy. He’s motivated, he’s smart, it’s important to him, comes from a football family, and he’s on the come [up], and we’re going to get the most out of him as we can."

The interesting takeaway here may be that the team would like to limit Smith's snaps, though that may not be easy given the team's situation at receiver. Harbaugh recently talked up Brown, so perhaps he's planning to play Brown over Smith in some situations.

"I'm happy with Breshad," Flacco said, per the team's official website. "He looks really good. He looks big, powerful, runs well."

At 6-foot-2 and 212 pounds, Perriman gives Marc Trestman's offense good size along with insane 4.24 speed. Viewed as a replacement for the departed Torrey Smith, the rookie out of Central Florida also arrives with questions about his hands after too many drops in college. Flacco, though, insists that hasn't been an issue in Baltimore.

"His hands look like they're really good. He looks like he has big, strong hands," Flacco said. "He snatches the ball out of the air."

The Ravens needed a receiver to replace Torrey Smith and Perriman fits the bill. He has great speed, so he’ll complement Steve L. Smith’s intermediate game. Throw in a pass-happy OC Marc Trestman and a solid quarterback in Joe Flacco and it all adds up to potentially heavy snaps and targets for Perriman, presuming he can pick things up quickly as a rookie. It's obviously an upgrade for Flacco, considering how the receiving corps was shaping up prior to the draft.

The San Francisco 49ers may only be two days into minicamp and a few weeks into the offseason program, but Torrey Smith said Wednesday that the chemistry is already building between him and his new quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The two aren’t new acquaintances; Smith said that he and Kap had trained at the same facility in past offseasons. He referenced Kaepernick’s “cannon” and how it differs from the strong arm of his former Baltimore Ravens teammate Joe Flacco.

“Joe (Flacco) has a great arm, probably the strongest arm in the league, but Kap’s is something different with that velocity,” Smith said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s something different.”

“He’s doing a great job,” Smith said. “Ya’ll aren’t out there, but some of the throws he made yesterday were ridiculous.”

“It was cover two and I had a conversion,” Smith said. “It turned into a deep route and there was a small, a really small window for him to make the throw between (Antoine) Bethea and myself. If he put too much air on it, the ball is going to get tipped in a real game, and I’m going to get knocked out. But, he threw it where only I could get it and I didn’t break stride. And it was on a rope, 35 yards on a rope. It would have been a touchdown. It was ridiculous.”

It was reported earlier in the offseason that the team planned to utilize Kaepernick’s running ability to a greater degree. Kaepernick ran the ball 12 more times in 2014 than he did in 2013 for an additional 115 yards, so it's not like he abandoned the scramble. It sounds like it's more about utilizing the read-option as a larger part of the offense. If that's the case, it could be a boon to Kaepernick's fantasy value. He was the #14 QB in 2014 after finishing #9 the season before, though his overall production only dipped by 11 fantasy points. He's a bounce-back candidate provided new OC Geep Chryst can design an offense that can move the ball. Chryst previously served as the OC for the Chargers in 1999 and 2000, but his offenses ranked 26th and 28th overall in that span. Any gains that Kaepernick can make as a thrower (due to his offseason work with QB coach Dennis Gile and former Rams/Cardinals QB Kurt Warner) will only help his overall value, and early reports describe a 'radically different' throwing motion.

Free-agent wide receiver Torrey Smith has reached agreement on a five-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter and Adam Caplan.

The deal is worth $40 million, including $22 million guaranteed, sources said.

Smith got off to a slow start in 2014, posting just six catches for 85 yards in the first three games. Over the final 13 games of the season, he averaged 3.3 receptions for 52 yards and 0.85 touchdowns, which equates to #20 WR-type numbers in PPR formats. As it stands, he finished as the #29 WR in PPR and #19 in standard formats (thanks to the high touchdown rate), which is the fourth time he has finished in the top 23 (in standard formats) in his four-year career. He'll join a 49ers receiving corps that is likely losing Michael Crabtree and has a still-effective Anquan Boldin as a possession receiver. Smith will serve as a deep threat for QB Colin Kaepernick, though this move has to be considered a downgrade from an offensive/quarterback standpoint since the 49ers are typically run-heavy and Joe Flacco is pretty adept at putting touch on the deep ball. Throwing with touch is not one of Kaepernick's strengths.

Wide receiver Torrey Smith is poised to leave the Ravens as a free agent, according to multiple NFL sources, and the San Francisco 49ers are the front-runners to land the former Maryland standout.

For Smith to have remained with the Ravens, which several league sources reiterated has been an extremely unlikely scenario for weeks, he would have had to leave several million dollars on the table.

Although no deal has been finalized, sources indicated there's strong mutual interest between the former second-round draft pick and San Francisco. One source characterized the Smith situation as a "done deal with the 49ers," barring any unforeseen snags. Deals cannot become official until Tuesday at 4 p.m., when the league year and free agency signing period begins.

Smith acknowledged his pending departure Sunday night with a blog in which he thanked the Ravens for his four years in Baltimore.

Update: Smith signed a five-year, $40 million deal that includes $22 million guaranteed.

Smith got off to a slow start in 2014, posting just six catches for 85 yards in the first three games. Over the final 13 games of the season, he averaged 3.3 receptions for 52 yards and 0.85 touchdowns, which equates to #20 WR-type numbers in PPR formats. As it stands, he finished as the #29 WR in PPR and #19 in standard formats (thanks to the high touchdown rate), which is the fourth time he has finished in the top 23 (in standard formats) in his four-year career. He'll join a 49ers receiving corps that is likely losing Michael Crabtree and has a still-effective Anquan Boldin as a possession receiver. Smith will serve as a deep threat for QB Colin Kaepernick, though this move has to be considered a downgrade from an offensive/quarterback standpoint since the 49ers are typically run-heavy and Joe Flacco is pretty adept at putting touch on the deep ball. Throwing with touch is not one of Kaepernick's strengths.

Ravens hired former Bears HC Marc Trestman as offensive coordinator, per source.

Trestman has had some terrific offenses over the years, including four top 10 units (49ers in '95 and '96, Raiders in '02 and the Bears in '13). His arrival bodes well for Joe Flacco and Justin Forsett (specifically in the passing game).

After a statistically down first half of the season, Torrey Smith had one of his better games in Pittsburgh Sunday night and feels he’s taking a better mental approach to the game.

Smith hauled in a 35-yard touchdown from quarterback Joe Flacco early in the first quarter and finished with four catches for 63 yards. It was one of his best games of the year.

“It is a mental thing the way I approach the game, the way I was attentive on the field,” he said. “I was definitely locked in on that. It is a brand new half of the season for me personally and I’m looking forward to making the plays that we need to get it done. And I have to do a lot more.”

Smith has four touchdowns in his last four games. He’s caught 11 passes for 195 yards during that span, which included being shut out in Cincinnati.

Through the first five weeks of the season, Smith was the #62 WR in fantasy football. Over the past four games, he is the #15 WR, gaining 195 yards and catching four touchdowns. That even includes a goose egg against a tough Cincinnati secondary.