Ravens facing a kicker controversy after Justin Tucker release, new announcement

Billy Heyen

Ravens facing a kicker controversy after Justin Tucker release, new announcement image

The Baltimore Ravens are heading toward a kicker competition.

That's certainly not something seen with that franchise in a while.

But the release of Justin Tucker after a career-worst season and amid off-field allegations has changed everything for Baltimore's kicking game.

The Ravens drafted Tyler Loop in the sixth round out of Arizona. And on Monday, they officially signed kicker John Hoyland as an undrafted player out of Wyoming.

In his Cowboys career, Hoyland missed only twice on 54 attempts from inside 40 yards, per ESPN.

Loop was the first kicker ever drafted by the Ravens. He was 6-for-9 in college from 50-plus, including a 62-yarder last season.

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John Harbaugh recently praised both kickers, via ESPN:

"Both kickers, I thought, looked really good today. So, we got them out there behind the line with the snap and everything, and I think they made them all, didn't they? So that's good to see. It's a good start that way."

It might take a long portion of the offseason for this competition to get wherever it's going, but it'll be interesting to follow.

At the end of it, the Ravens will have a kicker other than Tucker for the first time since 2011.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle