Third Phase Could Make or Break Ravens

It's been a very long time since the Baltimore Ravens faced kicker questions like this.

Back in May, Baltimore released Justin Tucker after a series of sexual misconduct allegations came to light. To replace the most-accurate kicker in NFL history, the Ravens are hosting a competition between a pair of rookies in sixth-round pick Tyler Loop and undrafted free agent John Hoyland, with neither having pulled away at this point.

Regardless of who wins the competition, NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha believes breaking in the new kicker will be the Ravens' greatest challenge this season.

"The Ravens are looking to replace Justin Tucker, which means this is the first time in over a decade that they’ll have major questions at kicker heading into a season. Tucker was released in May amid allegations of improper conduct during massage therapy sessions. (He received a 10-game suspension from the league in June.) Tucker connected on a career-low 73.3 percent of his field goal attempts last season, but even that decline left his career accuracy at 89.1 percent, ranking first in NFL history."

"Now the Ravens are trying to assess whether sixth-round pick Tyler Loop or undrafted rookie John Hoyland can come close to being that reliable. There isn’t much to criticize about the roster Baltimore has assembled. That also won’t matter if the kicking game can’t deliver in high-pressure situations."

Tucker excelled on the field throughout most of his time in Baltimore, but as Chadiha mentioned, last season was easily the worst of his career. It even got to the point where he was outright losing games for the Ravens.

In the Ravens' 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11, Tucker missed two field goals and an extra point. In their 24-19 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13, he missed a field goal and two extra points. That's not to say that Baltimore definitely would've won those games if he had made those kicks, but it certainly would've helped.

As long as Loop or Hoyland aren't actively losing the Ravens games, they should be all right. However, expecting either of them to come in and kick like Tucker right away is a recipe for disappointment.