The Baltimore Ravens turned up the heat on Tyler Loop. After a disastrous preseason, they signed Jake Moody to their practice squad, pitting Loop against real competition for the first time in 2026.
While head coach Jesse Minter recently mentioned he expects Loop to be the kicker in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts, the second-year pro has gone from sure-fire starter to one on shaky ground. It might feel even shakier after general manager Eric DeCosta’s latest comments.
“We gotta make kicks. Fresh set of legs to look at, evaluate, compare, see how it all works out,” DeCosta said. “It’s a performance business. We gotta do our job…Looking at it this preseason, we decided it was probably worthwhile to bring somebody else in to see how they look.”
Loop has the edge right now, but his seat could get really hot in the coming weeks.
Tyler Loop needs to restore Baltimore Ravens' belief in him
Tyler Loop has run out of breathing room. He’s had an abysmal stretch dating back to that Week 18 miss that ended Baltimore’s season in 2025. All the cushion he somehow built up, for whatever reason it was given to him, is gone now.
Simply put, Loop will be under a microscope. The Ravens know what he can do in practice—he had an amazing training camp. The issue is his performance when the lights are at their brightest, and the uprights look smallest.
Big moments have gotten Loop throughout his young career, and the pressure fueled by the crowd has been a monkey he hasn’t been able to get off his back. With those questions rising this offseason, it seems like the scrutiny caused an even bigger problem for Loop in preseason action.
The biggest issue is his accuracy from long range. Loop has showcased a lethally strong leg at times; it’s just that he doesn’t know where the ball is going. It’s kind of like a pitcher throwing 100 miles per hour, but not being able to throw strikes for the life of him.
In his rookie campaign, Loop was 1-for-4 from 50+ yards. In this year’s preseason, he was 1-for-3 from that distance. Same old, same old.
And to make things look so much worse, FanSided's kicking value added metric put Loop at a horrific -4.05. That placed him 39th among 42 kickers.
As a result, Jake Moody will come in and apply the pressure.
Sure, Moody’s been a heavily inconsistent kicker throughout his career, but that’s pretty much the same track Loop is on. They’ve both had their struggles, and whoever can conquer those woes, if either, may make a run to be the starter this year.
All the signs point to Loop getting the reps early on in the 2026 regular season, but if he has any hiccups, he could put himself on the chopping block, especially if Moody impresses on the practice field in Baltimore.
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