The only kicker the Ravens have on the roster is Tyler Loop. He found out he won the job during Saturday night’s post-game press conference. Baltimore did have two kickers earlier in camp, however, and HC John Harbaugh said they could bring him back when injuries allowed them to most some roster moves.
Following a poor season, former Ravens K Justin Tucker also faced sexual assault allegations. The factors combined compelled the Ravens to draft a kicker, taking Tyler Loop in the sixth round. They also added John Hoyland as a rookie free agent, and for much of the offseason, he remained competitive with the draft pick.
Loop had his ups and downs, but grew stronger as the offseason wore on. In Saturday night’s game, he finished going 5-for-6 on field goals and 2-for-2 on extra points. He went 3-for-4 from 40-plus, and 2-for-3 from 50-plus, missing a 50-yard attempt. After the miss, he came back with a 53-yarder to end the game. Not exactly 70 yards.
Tyler Loop “will be the kicker”, Harbaugh told reporters after the game, via the Ravens’ website. “He has earned it, and he’ll get another chance to get back out there next week and kick some more and just keep improving. But, I just appreciate the fact that he wants to make them all, but he had a good night”. Harbaugh said the Ravens are also experimenting with different kickoffs and credited Loop with handling that very well. Apparently, however, he didn’t run his announcement by his kicker beforehand, because the rookie didn’t know.
Asked about when he found out he’d won the Ravens’ kicking job, Loop said, “I haven’t found out. I’m still earning it”. Reporters then informed him about what Harbaugh had just told them. “Oh nice, that’s fun”, he said. “It’s special. It’s something that [I can] celebrate a little bit with my family [about] just now. I’m just really, really excited to be in Baltimore”.
In the Ravens’ first preseason game, Tyler Loop attempted two field goals, missing from 46 and making a 52-yarder. He is now 6-for-8 overall, including 4-for-6 from 40-plus yards and 3-for-4 from 50-plus. That’s only a 75-percent average, which would have ranked 29th in the NFL last season—just ahead of Justin Tucker. But with such a small sample size, and a heavy bias toward range, one can’t judge by percentage alone.
The Ravens enjoyed a tremendous kicker for years with Justin Tucker, arguably the greatest kicker in the history of the game. While the latest generation of kickers—and Chris Boswell—is proving that his range is not unique, he epitomized reliability. Until he didn’t, and now he is looking for a job—and a massage parlor—but serving a suspension first.
Time will tell if he can live up to his predecessor’s on-field legacy. Either way, however, Tyler Loop is ready for the challenge of playing in the AFC North, and the conditions that come with it.
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