Sportsnaut
The Baltimore Ravens spent much of this offseason evaluating kickers in the 2025 NFL Draft to determine who would replace Justin Tucker. While there is still hope they have found their next long-term answer, the door might now be open to a competition.
As part of The Athletic‘s offseason workout observations from all 32 teams, Ravens’ reporter Jeff Zrebiec explained why rookie Tyler Loop has opened the door to a competition this summer to be the kicker.
“Loop is still the favorite to succeed Tucker, but it appears the Ravens are headed for their first training camp kicking competition since Tucker beat out Billy Cundiff before the 2012 season. Loop had a few rocky offseason practices, opening the door for John Hoyland, an undrafted rookie out of Wyoming. Hoyland’s form has been good enough to suggest the Ravens could have a difficult decision to make late in the preseason.
The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec on Baltimore Ravens’ rooie kicker Tyler Loop
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Baltimore selected Loop with the 186th overall pick, snagging the former Arizona Wildcats placekicker in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. In college over the past two seasons, Loop made 80.9 percent of his 68 field-goal attempts, with a 64.5 percent conversion rate on attempts from 40-plus yards out.
Loop showed significant improvement in his final season, recording an 87.5 percent conversion rate on field-goal attempts between 40 and 49 yards, and went 6-for-9 on attempts from 50-plus yards out. Early on, though, that success hasn’t carried over into the Ravens’ offseason practices.
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Wyoming kicker John Hoyland wasn’t picked during the 2025 NFL Draft, but signed with Baltimore shortly after. In his final season, he made 78.9 percent of his field-goal attempts, but he went just 1-for-4 on attempts from 50-plus yards away.
Loop is still the favorite to be the Ravens’ kicker in Week 1, but there does seem to be a little more uncertainty than there was a few weeks ago. With the team banking on two rookies, Baltimore will be facing a level of uncertainty at kicker that it hasn’t experienced since the days with Billy Cundiff.
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