Tucker Thrown for a Loop

The Justin Tucker situation is really an excruciating one for the Ravens organization. Here’s a player who by most accounts, was destined for enshrinement in The Pro Football Hall of Fame and certainly a future member of the club’s Ring of Honor. Where else other than in Baltimore, a franchise that has had its offensive challenges throughout most of their history, is a kicker placed upon a pedestal like here in Charm City? Where else do fans wear the jersey of a kicker, other than M&T Bank Stadium?

Yet these sexual allegations brought to the forefront of our sports consciousness by The Baltimore Banner, have completely tarnished Tucker’s accomplishments in the minds of many. But the situation is hardly cut and dried.

In our society, the last I checked, it’s still “innocent until proven guilty”. But that doesn’t matter much in the court of public opinion, one that is heavily swayed by trending topics on social media. Tucker’s alleged transgressions, his contributions to the community be damned, have already been decided upon by jurors with accounts on X. Tucker may soon become, if he hasn’t already, another victim of the cancel culture.

No charges have been filed. No formal hearings. No day in court.

That’s the world we live in.

The Ravens have let the NFL take the lead on the Tucker investigation and ever since, the story has gone silent, parked on a stack of files at NFL headquarters in Manhattan, while Tucker sits in limbo wondering how his career will finish out, how his life has changed in oh so many ways.

So, while the league drags its collective feet, life goes on in the NFL. The Ravens, like all other 31 teams, are preparing for the 2025 season, one that looks more and more like the first since 2012 without Justin Paul Tucker from Houston, Texas – the 8-time All Pro, 7-time Pro Bowler and the most accurate kicker in NFL history. And no one will say when this investigation will be completed. It’s unlikely that it will happen before training camp begins.

Consequently, the Ravens had no choice but to seek out Tucker’s replacement and that is apparently Tyler Loop, a 2025 6^th-round pick out of Lucas, Texas and the University of Arizona.

Sure, the Ravens could have stayed the course and stood by their man and let due process unfold. But with this thing hanging over his head, Tucker didn’t exactly perform to Tucker standards in 2024. Heading into 2024, Tucker had connected on 90.2% of his field goal attempts during his 12 seasons at the time. Enter season 13, when Tucker connected on just 22 of 30 FGA’s, good for 73.3%. Thirty-one other kickers were better.

And now that the public is aware of the allegations that might not be resolved anytime soon, the burner on his flame will go full blast. Tucker will be ridiculed on the road, sometimes viciously. He may even get an earful from the hometown “faithful” after an errant attempt. It could result in an even greater degradation in accuracy to the point where John Harbaugh is hesitant to use his once automatic kicker from 55 yards-in, at all. The Ravens kicking game could be heavily disarmed.

Enter Tyler Loop.

There’s no denying Loop’s leg strength or his kicking ability. What we don’t know is how he’ll deal with pressure and there’s no denying, the pressure to succeed a legend is real. And unfortunately for the Ravens, kicking in practice or during scrimmaging or in preseason games won’t matter. Remember Kaare Vedvik?

As Tucker’s understudy, Vedvik felt little pressure. During the Ravens’ 2019 preseason opener on August 8, 2019, he made all four of his field goals, including a 55-yarder. Three days later he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a 5th-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft which they used to select Broderick Washington. Less than 3 weeks after the trade, Vedvik was waived by the Vikings. He couldn’t handle the pressure of being “the guy”.

Vedvik bounced around the league for 2 years, landing on 6 other NFL rosters, never beyond the level of practice squad. Since 2021, Vedvik has played in the Canadian Football League.

But back to Loop…

His tools are undeniable, but until he’s asked to win a game, we won’t know if he has the ice water veins that Justin Tucker had as a rookie in 2012. And let’s be honest, Baltimore isn’t going to be all that patient. Not after the long and successful tenures of Tucker and Matt Stover. The boo birds could erupt. Just ask Billy Cundiff and Stephen Hauschka.

So, Loop it is.

Let’s just hope the Ravens haven’t been thrown for one if Tucker goes elsewhere and rediscovers that Hall of Fame form.

[Related: Reactions to the Ravens Day 3 Picks]

The post Tucker Thrown for a Loop appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/04/29/lombardis-way/tucker-to-loop/