Has Joe Flacco found his new deep threat in John Brown?

Joe Flacco and John Brown seem to be getting off to a great start at camp, which has us wondering if Flacco has found his new deep threat?

The combination of Joe Flacco’s arm strength and John Brown’s speed have been turning heads all throughout training camp, and that success has continued into recent days. Brown, who signed a 1-Year, $5 million deal this off-season with the Ravens after four years with the Arizona Cardinals, has been known to be one of the more electrifying, and straight-up fastest, players in the league.

After a disappointing 2017 campaign, one in which Brown only played in ten games due to injuries and caught just 21 passes. Brown didn’t receive an extension from the Cardinals and instead hit free agency, where the Ravens were able to nab him at a bargain.

We all remember when GM Ozzie Newsome vowed to make changes to the receiving core a year after the Ravens ranked 29th in passing offense, and he did just that. The two main things that are needed for a complete receiving core are the “possession” receiver and the guy to “take the top off the defense.” John Brown fits the latter of those needs perfectly. Brown, who ran a 4.34 at the NFL Combine, has proved that he can run past any defender at the NFL level.

Knowing that the passing game last year was so stagnant, there really wasn’t a receiver on the market that fit the Ravens better than John Brown does. Not only would Brown help serve as a decoy for underneath routes for fellow free agent signing Michael Crabtree, but he would also help Joe Flacco tremendously.

Return of the deep ball:

It’s blatantly obvious that Flacco has a cannon for an arm, and it’s well documented that he likes to go deep often. The past few seasons, really since the days of Torrey Smith, the Ravens haven’t had a true “burner” to go down the field and strike fear in the heart of defenses.

Over the last five seasons, Joe Flacco has completed just 24.6% of passes of at least 25-yards or more, but the connection forming between him and Brown shows a lot of promise in terms of the ability to change that narrative. The Flacco-to-Brown connection has been featured multiple times on baltimoreravens.com as the “Play of the Day“, and it seems that every day or so that there is a report coming out talking about how dynamic Brown is when going deep.

Harbaugh did call John Brown a “complete receiver”, and if he can give the Ravens anything on top of being a successful deep threat, than that’s just the cherry on top for the Ravens front office and fans alike.