The Baltimore Ravens have the best kicker in NFL history in Justin Tucker, but even he isn’t immune to the potential effects of the league’s new kickoff rule. After the Kansas City Chiefs talked about potentially using a non-kicker on kickoffs, John Harbaugh said they’re considering the same.
Of course, every team is in exploratory mode right now, so they’re just reviewing the possibilities. My guess is that most teams who review non-kickers will settle on their kicker to kick. The concern is that the new rules make it dramatically likelier that the kicker will have to make a tackle. But Justin Tucker is preparing for that eventuality.
“I have put on like 3.8 pounds”, Tucker told reporters yesterday, somewhat jokingly, via the Ravens’ website. “I have to get some more shrugs, get the traps going a little bit just to make sure I’m prepared for a little bit more contact. In all seriousness, it will be a lot of fun to see what we come up with and then see what other teams come up with and see how we can gain an advantage on the play”.
Tucker, 34, is going into his 13th NFL season in 2024. He has eight career tackles, with just three coming in the past five years, none in 2023. If prior XFL games are any indication, kickers can probably expect to have 8-12 tackles per season. Do the Ravens want to put their most valuable special teams commodity at that kind of risk?
“We’ve thought about everything”, head coach John Harbaugh insisted, a former special teams coordinator. He said that it would be a big advantage if you had a linebacker or other position player who could place the ball consistently. Some XFL teams did use non-specialists for this reason.
For his part, Justin Tucker says that he wants to be the one out there kicking, with all that entails. “There might be a hidden gem in our locker room”, he said, about a non-kicker who can do the job. “I’d like to think I would be that guy, but just like any and all positions out here, evaluations are comprehensive and ongoing”.
One wonders if Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is exploring similar options. Their own kicker, Chris Boswell, has dealt with some injuries in recent years. You would probably want to minimize his exposure to injury risks, so hopefully Payton Wilson can kick.
I don’t think you’ll find too many kickers say that they don’t want to do it, however. They may not be jumping for joy about the prospect of going through tackling drills for the first time, but they are the kickers. That’s what they’re paid to do.
“I’m just going to do everything I can to make sure I have every kick available and everything else I need to have available”, Tucker said. “Every other way that I need to be prepared, I’m going to make sure I do that for this team”.
Ultimately, the decision will come down to Harbaugh and every other head coach in the league. If they have a non-kicker they trust more to kick accurately enough, some teams may go that route. You don’t want to exit a game without your kicker just for the sake of making a tackle.
