The Baltimore Ravens are at the NFL combine with wide receiver once again a priority, just three years after taking Breshad Perriman in the first round.

Perriman's short NFL career bottomed out last season, when he finished as the league's worst-ranked wide receiver. Pro Football Focus gave him the lowest grade among 116 receivers.

His dropped passes and inability to win contested catches turned into interceptions. His lack of production led to him being a healthy scratch for a team that desperately needed receivers.

With the Ravens again prioritizing receiver help -- Pro Football Focus gave Breshad Perriman the lowest grade among 116 players at the position -- the team has a better understanding of what to look for. Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire

Injuries to both knees and his hamstring curtailed Perriman's development, but he showed little last season when he was fully healthy.

What seemed like a perfect match in 2015 -- the laser-fast Perriman catching deep passes from strong-armed Joe Flacco -- has yet to materialize. Perriman, the No. 26 overall pick just 32 months ago, is being labeled a bust at time when Baltimore was hoping he would've established himself as the No. 1 receiver.

In 27 games, Perriman has managed 43 catches for 576 yards. The Ravens are unlikely to pick up the fifth-year option on Perriman, which means he'll be signed only through the 2018 season.

While Perriman hasn't provided many touchdowns -- three, to be exact -- he has given the Ravens more lessons going forward on the type of wide receiver they need to draft:

Avoid bad hands

It sounds awfully simplistic: The No. 1 attribute for a wide receiver is catching the ball on a consistent basis.

Too often, teams talk themselves into believing they can correct this. They get enamored with desirable physical attributes that they convince themselves into thinking bad hands can turn into serviceable ones.

Baltimore knew the risk of taking Perriman in the first round. In his final season at Central Florida, he had nearly as many drops (eight) as touchdowns (nine) for Central Florida. His drop rate was 14 percent on 54 catchable targets.

"Those are just a matter of focusing in on the ball," general manager Ozzie Newsome said after drafting Perriman. "There will be a lot of opportunities for Bobby [Engram, Ravens wide receiver coach] to work with him just on that one thing. But he has all the other elements."

Size and speed mean nothing if the receiver isn't a reliable pass-catcher. Perriman has eight drops on 98 career targeted passes (8.2 percent), which is the fifth-worst drop percentage among wide receivers since 2015 (minimum 50 targets). His worst drop last season came in Week 6, when it was intercepted and led to a Chicago Bears touchdown two plays later.

The lesson here: Find a receiver who looks comfortable catching the ball and not someone who is consistently fighting the ball.

Dropped Opportunities The Ravens' Breshad Perriman has the fifth-worst drop percentage since 2015 (minimum 50 targets): WR, team Rec. Drops Tgts. Drop pct. Chris Moore, Ravens 25 7 53 13.2 Ricardo Louis, Browns 45 8 91 8.8 Brice Butler, Cowboys 43 7 80 8.8 Geronimo Allison, Packers 35 5 59 8.5 Breshad Perriman, Ravens 43 8 98 8.2

Look for strong personalities

History has shown that the top receivers are usually the divas on the team. They're the alpha males, from Terrell Owens to Randy Moss.

Baltimore experienced it here with the type-A personality of Steve Smith Sr. Today, receivers such as Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown crave attention, they love the limelight and they can be temperamental at times. The very best ones take extra maintenance, but this is all part of the playmaking package.

Perriman is an anti-diva. He appears to be more of an introvert. Perriman has been known to lack confidence when faced with adversity. A season-ending knee injury in his rookie season left Perriman in a self-described "dark hole" in which he "shut everyone out."

That lack of aggression has given way to passive play. In Week 9, Perriman tried to catch a deep throw in stride instead of attacking the ball at its highest point, which led to an interception in Tennessee.

There should be more physicality from Perriman, who stands 6-feet-2, 215 pounds. Last season, he forced no missed tackles and averaged 0.8 yards after contact per reception, which tied him for worst among NFL wide receivers.

The lesson here is shaking off defenders to score touchdowns comes as much from desire as size.

Speed sometimes doesn't translate

The 40-yard dash doesn't tell the whole story for wide receivers. Being fast on a track sometimes sometimes doesn't translate to the field.

Perriman was clocked at his pro day at 4.25 seconds by some observers. Other times recorded by NFL scouts ranged between 4.19 and 4.27. That's amazingly fast for a receiver at Perriman's size, and any of those would have been the best overall time at the 2015 NFL combine.

The problem has been Perriman doesn't play that fast on the field. He's produced seven plays of 25 yards or more since 2015. Over that span, 99 players have delivered more big plays.

Part of the reason is he's unpolished and needs to think too much, which causes hesitancy. Perriman didn't know how to correctly line up before practicing with Baltimore. The Ravens have been working with Perriman to be more balanced and powerful, which should cause him to be more explosive and help him get off press coverage.

The lesson is speed remains essential if receivers want to take the top off defenses but it can't overshadow other deficiencies.

When looking at the top receivers in this year's draft -- Alabama's Calvin Ridley, UCLA's Jordan Lasley, Oklahoma State's James Washington, Texas A&M's Christian Kirk, SMU's Courtland Sutton and Maryland's D.J. Moore -- Baltimore is obviously not searching for the next Perriman. The failure the Ravens encountered with him, however, can help team officials find the long-awaited success at the wide receiver position.