ExtremeRavens Posted 9 hours ago Posted 9 hours ago Ravens coach John Harbaugh joked on Monday that he finally decided rookie Tyler Loop would be the team’s starting kicker this season when he was asked about it following Saturday night’s preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys. In earnest, Baltimore knew months earlier after a 2 1/2-hour dinner at a Tucson, Arizona, restaurant that included an endless supply of Pepsi and a few tables being rearranged. That’s when Loop convinced senior special teams coach and soda junkie Randy Brown, who took three different west coast trips to meet with the Arizona standout, that he was the right man for the job. “He explained to me his process and it was intricate,” Brown said Monday, speaking with reporters for the first time since Baltimore used a sixth-round pick in April on Loop, the first kicker in the organization’s 30-year history to be drafted. Among the things that Brown — who is entering his 18th season with the Ravens and has worked with Justin Tucker, Billy Cundiff and Matt Stover, among others — was looking for was someone that has a strong leg, is tough mentally and kicks a straight ball. He also wanted to know the specifics of Loop’s process, from how he practices to how many kicks he tries a day to his lifting schedule to his sleeping and eating schedule, as well as his routine on game days. In more detail, he also needed to hear how Loop sees his target, how far back he stands and how many inches his plant foot is from the football. Small details matter significantly, especially with NFL footballs also being different than college footballs. In the NCAA, balls are between 10 1/2 and 11 1/2 inches long with a long circumference of 27.75 inches and short circumference of 20.75. NFL footballs are between 11 and 11 1/4 inches with a long circumference of 28 to 28 1/2 inches and a short circumference of 21 to 21 1/4 inches. That means each has a different sweet spot, different swing plane and different spot to plant. “There’s a spot on the football where you have to kick ball and he knew exactly where that spot was on your foot, and you do it by which lace you want to hit the football on,” Brown said. “The process is, ‘How am I gonna make sure that that spot on my foot hits one inch below the middle of the football, which is our sweet spot, depending on the different size of the football?'” There were other complications to navigate as well. Tucker, a Ravens legend and the most accurate kicker in NFL history, was being investigated by the NFL over allegations of sexual misconduct from more than 15 massage therapists from Baltimore-area spas and still on the team. Nine days after selecting Loop, however, Baltimore released Tucker, who was later suspended 10 weeks by the league for violating its personal conduct policy. A lengthy dinner convinced Ravens senior special teams coach Randy Brown that then-Arizona Wildcat Tyler Loop was the right kicker for the Ravens. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) The Ravens had also signed undrafted rookie free agent John Hoyland to compete with Loop. In one late July practice early in training camp, Hoyland converted on all nine of his field goal attempts. With Brown alternating kickers each day at that point, Loop showed up the next morning thinking he’d better not miss. He didn’t, converting all 10 of his tries, including ones from 63, 65 and 68 yards during individual work on a far field. Shortly after on Aug. 2, the Ravens cut Hoyland, leaving Loop as the lone kicker on the roster. The next day, Loop drilled a 60-yard field goal during a practice at M&T Bank Stadium, further solidifying his grip on the position. All the while, he continued to refine his technique. The way Loop planted his foot, how he swung his leg and where he struck the all ball needed work. In the desert climate of Arizona, his apex was also towering — a trajectory that wouldn’t work so hot in AFC North cities Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati. There was a new battery to get in sync with as well between long snapper Nick Moore — whom Brown dubbed the Lamar Jackson of NFL long snappers — and his holder, punter Jordan Stout. That was a precise process, too, with a need for the ball to be placed “on a dime” and with the correct amount of “lean,” all in the 1.33 seconds between the snap and Loop’s right foot meeting leather. And despite what Brown said is “elite” leg strength, Ravens coaches needed to see Loop perform in a game to see how well he could put it all together. In Baltimore’s preseason opener at home earlier this month against the Indianapolis Colts, he made 1 of 2 field goal tries, knocking in a 52-yarder and missing from 46. Saturday against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, he was even more impressive, making 5 of 6 kicks, including ones from 53 and 51 with his lone miss from 50. Harbaugh had seen enough. “I thought he passed [the latest test] with flying colors,” he said Monday. “He’s earned it.” Loop had also emerged. In the beginning, Brown eyed about 10 college kickers. From there, he narrowed it to around a half-dozen before further whittling his list to two he thought were capable of being excellent outdoors. He also talked to Loop’s parents and coaches and watched game tape to figure out if he had the right process to hold up in pressure situations. “Too many kickers just look at the uprights, like, ‘I just gotta make it, somehow I just gotta make it,'” Brown said. “When you talk to a guy, you can tell. You can tell who’s a little flaky and who’s dialed in.” So after that lengthy dinner in Arizona, where Loop at one point moved some tables out of the way to demonstrate his process, Brown, who wasn’t event sure he’d get the chance to use a draft pick on a kicker, texted Harbaugh. The message was simple as it was definitive. It read: “I think we found our guy.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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