According to Adam Schefter, Troy Smith is making friends and influencing people in Baltimore. The competition to start is wide open between first-round draft pick Joe Flacco, incumbent Kyle Boller, and the former Heisman winner, Troy Smith.

Boller was thought to be the most likely candidate to win the job, with the fans and organization hoping that Flacco could take over for him sometime in the not-so-distant future.

Smith, being a 5th round draft pick and wearing the Heisman Trophy around his neck like an anchor, just like Jason White, Eric Crouch, Danny Weurffel, Gino Torretta, and Andre Ware before him, was an afterthought. But Schefter reports that he's become a legitimate candidate to start, and his rookie stats stack up well historically, too:

Smith started the Ravens' last two games last season, losing in Seattle and beating Pittsburgh at home. During his rookie year, Smith completed 40-of-76 passes for 452 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. His 79.5 quarterback rating was better than other notable rookie campaigns.

Eli Manning’s quarterback rating his rookie year in 2004 was 55.4, Byron Leftwich’s in 2003 a 73.0, Donovan McNabb’s in 1999 a 60.1. Clearly, Smith is capable.

And back in late May, Ravens quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson was positively glowing about Smith.

"I really love his confidence, because he believes there is nothing that he can't do playing the quarterback position," Jackson said.

[...]

"It's hard in a year to say that you got it. He is still learning and still getting better," Jackson said. "But God, do I love the attention to detail and the passion about doing it. You couldn't question that at all."

Now, you never want to put too much stock in reports like these, because at this time of year, it's all sunshine and roses coming out of everyone's camp. Everyone looks so much better, they're due for a breakout year, they're starting to realize their potential, etc. If preseason optimism translated into wins, every team would go 16-0.

But the praise for Troy Smith has been pouring in pretty steadily. I don't think anyone in Baltimore is going to be setting any NFL passing records this year, but if Troy Smith would happen to turn into a viable candidate to start, what a pleasant surprise that would be for the Ravens.