Baltimore added another kicker last week, signing Jake Moody to its practice squad after Tyler Loop’s uneven preseason raised fresh questions about the job. The move did not take the starter’s seat away from Loop, but it put real pressure beside him.
That is why Moody’s arrival is drawing attention now. Loop, a sixth-round pick in his second NFL season, went 5-for-8 in the preseason after spending the offseason under heat for his season-ending miss in Pittsburgh. He was 30-for-34 last season, but only 1-for-4 from beyond 50 yards, and the missed kick that lingered through the offseason has made every new development at the position feel larger than it might elsewhere.
For Moody, the timing was jarring in a way only specialists tend to understand. He was cut by the Washington Commanders in August, then signed by Baltimore last week after a call that came only after he had driven eight hours home to Michigan. Moody said he would have preferred the move had lined up sooner, but added that this is what he signed up for and that being a kicker means living with that kind of uncertainty. He called it not his first rodeo, and said you learn to take it one day at a time.
The addition also fits Baltimore’s way of handling the position. Eric DeCosta said the club was responding to inconsistency and called it a performance business. That matters because the Ravens have spent years expecting stability from the spot, with Matt Stover and Justin Tucker each lasting 13 seasons, while Chris Boswell’s active run with the same franchise has reached 11 years or more. Tyler Loop has not produced that kind of certainty yet, and the team has chosen to answer it by adding competition rather than changing the starter immediately.
That is where the wrinkle sits. Jesse Minter still said Loop is the Week 1 starter, and added that bringing in another player at the position usually draws out the best in the incumbent. He also said he did not think Loop had missed a kick since Moody arrived. The message is plain enough: Baltimore is not done with Tyler Loop, but it is no longer asking him to answer the job alone. Moody knows the drill better than most after losing a starting job twice, most recently to undrafted rookie Drew Stevens, and his presence gives the Ravens a second answer if Loop’s preseason form carries into the regular season.
