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Jamison Hensley
Owings Mills, md. – After weeks of kicker training across the country, Baltimora Ravens Senior special team coach Randy Brown had a clear message for the team that went to the draft.
Brown said to the general manager Eric decost: “There is a boy I really want”.
The crows wanted arizona Tyler Loop so much that the first footballer made him Drawn up in the history of 30 years of the franchise. April 26, Baltimora Used a choice of the sixth round In the cycle, which suddenly finds itself involved in the greatest question that the team addresses: Loop will replace Justin Tucker Like the Baltimore footballer?
The editorial staff of the loop was the first sign that the team was thinking about life without the most accurate footballer of the NFL. The crows have released tuckerwhich was investigated by the League for misconduct sexual conduct, Monday.
“Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those cases,” Decosta said in a note. “Considering our current list, we made the hard decision to release Justin Tucker. Justin created many significant and unforgettable moments in the history of the crows. His reliability, concentration, guide, resilience and extraordinary talent made him one of the best kicks of the League for a decade.
The Ravens had previously drawn up four specialists in their history-three bettors and a long snapper-and everyone had won their work as Rookie. The strong leg of loop and the constant oscillation separated it from the other prospects of the college and made it the best candidate to become the potential successor of Tucker. It did not matter that the percentage of Goal in the field of loop decreased in all four years in Arizona. When the crows put on loop kicks ribbon, each attempt seemed the same.
“It’s one of these guys [who is] A kicked nerd, and you like to see him, “said Ravens’s coach John Harbaugh.” It is really in every detail and technical, and has studied Justin a lot and many other guys too “.
The Rookie of Rookie of the Ravens last weekend scored the first time when most of the team officials met Loop and saw him kicking him in person.
“We will have the opportunity to see his leg and this will help us to face what our decision -making process will go on,” Decosta said before Minicamp.
Harbaugh said that Loop delivered a strong first impression on Sunday at the Rookie Minicamp, where he watched the kick -off for the first time.
“It was nice to see him,” Harbaugh said. “I think as much as anything, it’s nice to hear a kicker, and the way the ball comes out of his foot is impressive.”
Loop cannot count the number of times in which he met the crows during the predate process, but it was enough to let him know that Baltimore was definitely interested. He met a scout at the Hula Bowl in January and then spoke to Brown during the specialized training at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. Loop also had a private training with Brown in Arizona.
The moment when Loop seemed that he was going to Baltimore was after the Patriots of New England Used a choice of the sixth round Andres BoreregalesWhich was the first footballer enrolled this year. Four selections later, Ravens telephoned to inform him that the number 186 would be.
“Oh friend, total euphoria receiving the call,” said Loop. “I saw the code of the area to come across my phone. I was like, ‘let’s go. I’m going to Baltimore.'”
When the NFL teams draw Kicker, it is usually with the intent to play immediately. Of the 19 kickers they detected the last 10 drafts, 14 of them were the full -time player of the respective team as a debutant. The last kicker who was enrolled and did not play for that team in his first season was Justin RohrwasserWhich was selected in the fifth round by New England in 2020 and cut before the start of the regular season.
However, none of those draft choices had to replace a kicker like Tucker, which holds the NFL brands for the best percentage of Goal in the field (89.1%) and the longest Field Goal (66 yard). Tucker finished the 2024 season with a percentage of Goal on the field of 73.3% in his career.
When asked about how many pressure he would try to follow in the footsteps of tucker, loop said: “I think he’s really exciting more than pressure, just because he gives you something to shoot for, right?”
Loop faced the challenges during his university career. He had three different coaches of special teams. He also had problems with Snaps and Holds, which is a great reason why his success rate went from 100% as a serial number (12 out of 12) to 78.3% in his final season (18 out of 23).
Last season, Loop showed the force of the leg with a 62 yard Field Goal. He then consolidated as the best kicker of the analyst Espn Mel Kiper Jr. at the NFL Combine, where he scored 13 of 14 attempts by Field Goal (93.3%) and finished creating a 60 Yarder.
“I would say that the only thing to hang on the hat is to be a craft student,” Loop said. “There are days when you are not in the groove and if you don’t feel it, you can always fall on your mechanics to be successful and kick.”
When the crows were deciding to take a kicker, they could have gone with the state of Florida Ryan Fitzgeraldwho guided university football as a percentage of goals on the pitch doing all 13 attempts, or Pittsburgh Ben Saulswho kicked the Steelers’ stadium and knows to play in AFC North weather conditions.
Instead, Baltimore went with loop, which is seen as the most potential.
“Randy believes in you,” Harbaugh said at Loop on the phone after the Ravens have drawn up. “He showed me the ribbon. You will have a fantastic career.”
Note of the editor: a version of this story was originally published on May 2nd.