Latest news with #kickers
New York Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
John Harbaugh says Ravens releasing Justin Tucker was ‘multi-layered decision'
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh addressed the team's decision to release kicker Justin Tucker in May for the first time Wednesday, telling reporters that cutting ties with Tucker was 'complex' and a 'multi-layered decision.' Since January, Tucker has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by 16 Baltimore-area massage therapists from eight different spas in alleged incidents dating back to 2012. The NFL opened an ongoing investigation into the allegations in February. Advertisement In April, the Ravens selected kicker Tyler Loop in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, then released Tucker on May 5 for 'football reasons.' Tucker, 35, is a five-time All-Pro but is coming off a career-worst season with eight missed field goal attempts in 2024. 'If it was just a black and white simple thing, then it would be easy to understand,' Harbaugh said. 'But I think anybody can look at the whole thing in perspective and say, 'OK, we've got to have a kicker ready to go,' and there's a whole lot of moving parts of that deal.' In OTAs, Loop and undrafted rookie free agent John Hoyland have split kicking reps, with Wednesday being Hoyland's turn to handle kicking duties. 'I mean, you're talking about arguably the best kicker in the history of the game,' Harbaugh said, referring to Tucker. 'But in the end, it all comes back to what you have to do to get ready for your team to play the first game,' Harbaugh said. 'If you step back and you take a look at all the issues and all the ramifications, you can understand that we've got to get our football team ready and we've got to have a kicker to go. 'So in that sense, it's a football decision and now we have to spend all of our focus and our time to get these kickers ready. We've got a competition going on and (we've got to) get these guys ready to make kicks. So that's all I'm thinking about.' Tucker has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations 'unequivocally false.' Harbaugh, who had not spoken with reporters since Tucker's release, said Wednesday that the call to cut the kicker was a group decision involving owner Steve Bisciotti, president Sashi Brown, executive vice president Ozzie Newsome and general manager Eric DeCosta.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Ravens coach John Harbaugh discusses 'complicated' decision to release Justin Tucker
Earlier this month, the Baltimore Ravens released Justin Tucker as 16 massage therapists from eight different Baltimore spa and wellness centers accused him of inappropriate behavior due to alleged incidents between 2012 and 2016. The team, though, called the roster move a "football decision" after the 35-year-old, who is a five-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, had his worst year in the NFL in 2024 with a 73.3% field-goal percentage. Tucker made 22 of his 30 field-goal attempts, missing 3-of-8 from 40-49 yards and 6-of-11 from 50 yards and beyond. He also missed two of his 62 extra point attempts. He still has the all-time career field-goal percentage at 89.1%, and head coach John Harbaugh said the scenario is "complicated." "I mean, you're talking about arguably the best kicker in the history of the game. And like we said, it's multilayered [and] it's complicated," Harbaugh told the media on Wednesday, via ESPN. "But in the end, it all comes back to what you have to do to get ready for your team to play the first game. And I think if you step back and you take a look at all the issues and all the ramifications, you can understand that we've got to get our football team ready, and we've got to have a kicker to go. And that was the move that we decided to make. "So, in that sense, it's a football decision, and now we have to spend all of our focus and our time to get these kickers ready. We've got a competition going on and [we've got to] get these guys ready to make kicks. So that's all I'm thinking about. From my perspective, it's like, 'We have to have a kicker out there making kicks,' and what's the best way to get that done?" The Baltimore Banner first reported the allegations, with victims saying Tucker repeatedly exposed himself during a span of four years, including his rookie campaign when the Ravens won the Super Bowl. Tucker has denied all allegations, calling them "unequivocally false" in a statement posted to social media. "Throughout my career as a professional athlete, I have always sought to conduct myself with the utmost professionalism. I have never before been accused of misconduct of any kind, and I have never been accused of acting inappropriately in front of a massage therapist or during a massage therapy session or during other bodywork," Tucker's statement said. "I have never received any complaints from a massage therapist, have never been dismissed from a massage therapy or bodywork session and have never been told that I was not welcome at any spa or other place of business." Six massage therapists came out first, followed by seven more women and an eventual total of 16. The accusations from all women are similar. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
2025 Fantasy Football Strategy Tips: Kicker scoring is not random — here's why
The war against kickers has reached a fever pitch in recent years, and I am not here for it. Yahoo and 4for4 have always been safe spaces for those who play in leagues with kicker spots — havens, if you will, for fantasy managers to appreciate how the position has the potential to be a difference-maker in their collective seasons. Advertisement [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] At the core of the notion to get rid of kickers is the myth that their output is totally random and unpredictable. Sure, there are some who got blasted by a 24-point performance from Chris Boswell to start the season in Week 1 last year or rode Nick Folk's 23-point leg to victory in Week 4. When those weeks happen, it's easy to blame it all on the 'randomness' of the kicker spot, but very few take the time to research and see that it may not be so capricious at all. Trends to look for First and foremost, streaming is your best bet in redraft leagues; the kicker that you click on or walk that sticker up to the board for is of very little significance other than your possible Week 1 guy. What Happens in Vegas We don't look to predict individual kicker components like field goal attempts, extra-point tries, or kick distances, as that would be somewhat futile. Instead, we turn to Las Vegas for kicker love in the form of team totals. The more points a team puts on the board, the more their kicker scores. Kicker fantasy points per game vs. team total. (Photo by As you can see from the past four seasons, the correlation between higher team totals and larger kicker output is solid. As I dug even deeper into this data, I found that the number of times a kicker scored 10+ fantasy points when their team's total was 27 or higher was more than double the number of times when their predicted score was 26 or less. For the anti-streaming crowd If you're not into streaming your kicker and prefer just rolling with one throughout the season, here are a few pointers to up your odds of getting the most production out of them. Advertisement [Visit 4for4 for more fantasy football analysis] First and foremost, wait to draft your kicker until the final round of the draft. With every pick in a fantasy football draft, there is an opportunity cost associated with that pick. In fantasy terms, opportunity cost is simply the value of players who you don't draft, but you had the chance to take. Selecting a kicker before the last round, whether you are in a 15, 18- or more-round draft, has a potentially large opportunity cost attached to it. A look at players drafted in Rounds 13-14 in half-PPR Yahoo redraft leagues last season reveals a group of positional players who produced starting numbers and even a few potential league winners. The names include Bucky Irving, Ladd McConkey, Jameson Williams, Baker Mayfield, Rico Dowdle, Zach Charbonnet and Jonnu Smith. Drafting a kicker before their time could mean missing out on those points throughout the season, so as hard as it may be — and whatever FOMO you may be experiencing — tap the brakes on that kicker before the final round. As always, chase volume Looking for volume is nothing new when it comes to fantasy football, and applying it to kicker selection can also prove effective. High-volume passing offenses lead to scoring opportunities, which is something we want from the leg of our placekickers. Teams that aren't afraid to chuck the ball tend to produce higher-scoring kickers. Kicker finishes in fantasy points per game & team passing volume, 2024. (Photo by If we look at last year's top 13 legs, nine of them came from offenses among the top half of the league in total passing attempts. Look to the third down Another stat that can lend us some credence in drafting a kicker to roll with for the season is third-down percentage. The farther down the field a drive is extended means there's more of a chance for scoring, right? Advertisement In 2021, we saw three of the top five kickers from offenses within the top eight in third-down efficiency, with six more rounding out the 14 highest-scoring kickers. The Patriots were seventh in the metric (44.0%), leading to a K2 performance from Folk, with Matt Gay of the Rams putting up K3 numbers with the sixth-highest third-down efficiency number of 44.7% from his offense. Matt Prater was K5 on the season, with the Cardinals' 43.5% third-down efficiency ranking eighth in the league. Kickers 9-14 were all on offenses that landed in the top 10 in third-down efficiency in 2021, with the Eagles (4th), Bills (2nd), Harrison Butker (1st), Greg Zuerlein (10th), Ryan Succop (5th) and Mason Crosby (9th) all on productive offenses. The next season, four of the top seven kickers in total fantasy points were on offenses that finished the year within the top nine in third-down efficiency, with two more on teams among the top 16 in that metric. The Cowboys ranked fifth (45.2%), producing a K4 performance from Brett Maher, with the 49ers right behind (45.1%) in sixth, with a K4 finish from Robbie Gould. The high-octane Buffalo Bills featured the highest third-down conversion rate in 2023 (50.2%), with Tyler Bass putting up a K6 finish in overall fantasy points. Despite their offensive woes, the Falcons managed to convert third downs at the ninth-highest rate (41.8%), allowing Younghoe Koo to do his thing as K7 on the season. 2023 saw four of the top six kickers in total fantasy points were part of offenses that ended the season among the top 10 in third-down efficiency. The Cowboys were second in the metric at 49.2%, producing a K1 output from Brandon Aubrey, with Chicago's Cairo Santos putting up a K3 performance on the season backed by the Bears' 41.2% third-down conversion rate (10th). Jake Elliott and Butker checked in at K4 and K6, with their teams converting third downs at the fifth (46.2%) and sixth (43.3%) highest rates, respectively. Advertisement Last season, six of the top 10 kickers were on offenses that ranked 13th or better in third-down efficiency. The Buccaneers had the highest rate in 2024 (51%), leading to a K4 performance from Chase McLaughlin, while the Ravens (50.5%) and Detroit (47%) were second and fourth, respectively. Bass checked in as the K8 thanks to the Bills' 44.2% third-down efficiency, which was seventh among offenses, while Chris Boswell seemingly came out of nowhere for that K1 spot, but the Steelers were 12th in the metric. We do need to remember that the very best offenses should be converting third downs to find that end zone, so sometimes you'll only get one point instead of three or more. The Bottom Line Kicker-hate is at an all-time high, and before you let those carpet cleaners in your house and join the cult, you may want to consider how helpful they can be to your team's overall output. Sure, we've all been burned by the kicker position in the past, and on the surface, it all seems super random, but by putting in some time and effort, kickers' production from week to week may not be as arbitrary as it appears. Looking at Vegas odds, teams' offensive efficiency and volume can also assist you in getting the most from your kicker. Let your league mates draft their kicker(s) way too early, while you sit back armed with some actionable data to steer you towards the right one. Advertisement More analysis from 4for4: 2025 available targets and air yards tracker This article was originally published on
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ravens Rookie Embracing Role As Kicker
Few rookie kickers have had bigger shoes to fill than Baltimore Ravens newcomer Tyler Loop. Loop, a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, was an insurance policy against Justin Tucker, who declined in 2024 but – more importantly – was accused of sexual misconduct by 16 Baltimore-area massage therapists. Advertisement The Ravens called it a 'football decision' when they officially released Tucker on Monday. It wasn't. But it put an end to Tucker's reign as a Baltimore stalwart and, possibly, his NFL career. At his first professional press conference, Ravens fans were introduced to their rookie kicker, who spoke about his reliance on mechanics and consistent improvement as he transitions to the NFL. "I'd say the one thing that I hang my hat on is being a student of craft," Loop said. "Guys in golf and baseball, you have a swing coach, because we're doing the same thing, trying to hit the same ball every time. "That's something that I really enjoy, because there are days where you don't feel good. There are days where you're not in a groove, and if you're not feeling it, you can always fall back on your mechanics to be successful and make kicks." Advertisement Meeting Tucker's standard will be a tough task. He's the all-time leader in field goal percentage and has seven first-team All-Pro honors to his name. He played an integral role in several key moments in Ravens history and helped kick Baltimore to its last Super Bowl victory. Once again, Baltimore's competitive window, and it will have another young kicker hoping to keep those dreams alive. Before meaningful January football, though, is the bad weather and intense moments every AFC North matchup seems to include. For that, the Arizona product is well prepared. "Being in the Pac-12, I got to go up to Washington, Washington State, and Oregon and play up there in some cold weather and some wind and crazy conditions," Loop said. "It's something that gets me excited. Advertisement "I think having a challenge to go conquer and a skillset to refine and really work on and become an expert of kicking in those conditions is something that gets me fired up. Learning from coaches who have been up there for a long time and learned how to be successful in the AFC North kicking, that's something that just the sound of gets me pumped up, so I'm really looking forward to it." For over a decade, Baltimore has avoided special teams uncertainty that haunts contenders and taunts the league's worst teams. Loop will be tasked with steering the Ravens around that fate. Related: Ravens Kicker Reveals Surprising Jersey Number Related: BREAKING: Ravens Release Justin Tucker
