Joe Flacco hasn't played with a legitimate deep threat since Torrey Smith exited stage left to sign with the Niners.
The Ravens quarterback believes that void has been filled, though, with the addition of Mike Wallace, who continues to make plays in training camp.
With second-year wideout Breshad Perriman still battling a knee injury, Flacco on Tuesday did what he's done all camp: Find Wallace deep.
"Mike is awesome," Flacco said, per the team's official website. "I think he is going to be a really big hit for us."
Wallace has flown under the radar nationally since failing his camp conditioning test, but ESPN's Jamison Hensley noted that the former Steelers, Dolphins and Vikings receiver has "caught passes on fade routes in the end zone," and "pulled in tough catches on back-shoulder throws."
Wallace never got on track in Minnesota last season, piling up more drops (4) than touchdowns (2) and posting the lowest yards per catch of his career (12.1).
His connection with Flacco has been on since the start of camp, though, leaving Wallace to heap praise on his new quarterback.
"The passes he's been throwing in practice, guys are barely getting their heads around and you already get hit with the ball," Wallace said, per Hensley. "It just lets you know you have to get your head around really fast because it's like windows that most quarterbacks wouldn't try to fit it in. And Joe is throwing it and it's getting there."
Said Flacco: "We all know he can run. But just the way he runs his routes and how good he is at the top of it and coming back to you, and how sure his hands have been -- I don't know if I've seen him drop a pass. That stuff has been great."
With Flacco and Wallace both hoping to rebound from down seasons, there is reason to believe the Ravens can make this connection work. We've already seen Baltimore revamp Terrance West's career in the backfield -- who says it can't happen with Wallace, too?
