{"id":44576,"date":"2025-04-28T03:36:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T03:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44576"},"modified":"2025-04-28T03:36:45","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T03:36:45","slug":"history-making-ravens-draft-pick-speaks-out-about-justin-tucker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44576","title":{"rendered":"History-Making Ravens Draft Pick Speaks Out About Justin Tucker"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-1446722782.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-1446722782.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-1446722782.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-1446722782.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Justin Tucker\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1329\" data-img-load-time=\"2721\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">A history-making draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens gave his thoughts on Justin Tucker&#8217;s future.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He made NFL history by becoming the first kicker ever drafted by the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens, but\u00a0Tyler Loop\u00a0was diplomatic about the chances he\u2019ll replace All-Pro\u00a0Justin Tucker, who has been accused of \u201cinappropriate sexual behaviour\u201d by multiple massage therapists.<\/p>\n<p>Loop, the 186th player taken in the 2025 NFL draft, kept his answers limited to football and his own focus on trying to earn work with the Ravens as a rookie. The former Arizona Wildcats star said, \u201cI\u2019m just excited to get there and be around those guys and find a way to make kicks. Being successful up there is what matters most. I\u2019m going to celebrate today and tomorrow get right back to work,\u201d\u00a0per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.<\/p>\n<p>While he didn\u2019t talk about Tucker\u2019s situation, Loop did concede the seven-time Pro Bowler \u201cwas a kicker he watched closely\u201d when growing up as a fan of the Texas Longhorns,\u00a0according to Zrebiec. The latter also noted Loop \u201ccited a fellow Arizona Wildcat, Nick Folk. Loop, though, said he has his own style.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That \u201cstyle\u201d will become one of the focal points of this offseason if the Ravens choose to move on from Tucker. The Super Bowl champion\u2019s future will rest on the outcome of a league-wide investigation into the allegations dating back to 2012, a review by the NFL the Ravens are watching closely.<\/p>\n<h2>Tyler Loop a Key Draft Pick for Ravens<\/h2>\n<p>Taking Loop gives the Ravens options however things play out with Tucker. The primary option is to give a younger, strong-legged kicker the chance to make a key position his own.<\/p>\n<p>Loop showed off his leg strength at one of\u00a0Kohl\u2019s Kicking Camps this offseason. He was good from 65 and 70 yards.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a promising sign for a Ravens team that briefly\u00a0sought more strength on kickoffs last season. What\u2019s less encouraging is Loop\u2019s erratic level of accuracy.<\/p>\n<p>As\u00a0The Baltimore Banner\u2019s Jonas Shaffer\u00a0pointed out, Loop \u201chit more than 85.7% of his field goals in just one season over his career.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<p>Being a long-range kicker made Loop more susceptible to missing the target, but the Ravens just endured a season marred somewhat by inconsistent kicking. Tucker\u2019s\u00a0costly missed kicks\u00a0led to\u00a0defeats against\u00a0the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0and\u00a0Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n<h2>Ravens Still Have a Big Decision to Make About Justin Tucker<\/h2>\n<p>General manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh\u00a0defended their process for making\u00a0a controversial pick in Round 2, and are also\u00a0prepared to wait\u00a0for the outcome of the league\u2019s look into the allegations brought against Tucker. Those\u00a0allegations were first revealed\u00a0in a January 30 article by\u00a0The Baltimore Banner\u2019s Julie Scharper, Brenna Smith and Justin Fenton, with\u00a0further reporting by The Banner\u00a0revealing subsequent accusations from as many as\u00a010 more therapists\u00a0working in the local area.<\/p>\n<p>Tucker has\u00a0denied the allegations, but the Ravens still have a big decision to make about a player who used to be integral to their success. Long considered a sure thing, Tucker was awry on eight of 30 field goal attempts and also misplaced a pair of extra-point tries during the last campaign,\u00a0per Pro Football Reference.<\/p>\n<p>Using one of their four sixth-round picks to take Loop kept every option open regarding Tucker. It also added a boost in leg strength a once stellar special teams unit\u00a0undergoing a mini transition this offseason needed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fb138a7846738eeeb50d68e56acc516e\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container\">\n<article class=\"tweet-container_article\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container_header \"><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty A history-making draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens gave his thoughts on Justin Tucker&#8217;s future. He made NFL history by becoming the first kicker ever drafted&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>History-Making Ravens Draft Pick Speaks Out About Justin Tucker - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=44576\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"History-Making Ravens Draft Pick Speaks Out About Justin Tucker - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty A history-making draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens gave his thoughts on Justin Tucker&#8217;s future. 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