For Justin Tucker, 2024 might be a season of all’s properly that ends properly.
After midseason struggles with a career-high eight subject aim misses, Tucker completed by making his last 28 kicks (5 subject targets and 23 additional factors).
But for a perfectionist like Tucker and a corporation just like the Ravens, they will spend the offseason not ignoring this yr’s robust instances however trying to enhance due to them.
Head Coach John Harbaugh mentioned he had a terrific, “actually lengthy, trustworthy” dialog with Tucker after the season ended.
“Maybe all of us noticed that Justin Tucker is human,” Harbaugh mentioned.
“It’s onerous to be a terrific kicker on this league and be as constant as he is been, and he bumped into that – this adversity – most likely so much later in his profession than most of those guys do, but it surely’s one thing that most likely needed to occur by way of his development as a participant and whilst a performer.”
Tucker nonetheless stands as probably the most correct kicker in NFL historical past with an 89.1 profession field-goal share. He’s one spot above the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker, who additionally had some struggles this season. In seventh place is the Texans’ Ka’imi Fairbairn, who missed two subject targets within the Texans’ playoff loss.
Even the very best kickers generally undergo tough patches, and Harbaugh mentioned he noticed Tucker undergo a psychological battle this season.
Harbaugh in contrast it to a golfer who has to copy the identical movement time and again. The steps for Tucker had been to remain balanced, observe by means of, and hit the soccer clear. He was persistently making kicks in observe, but it surely wasn’t transferring to video games maybe as a result of he wasn’t within the “proper state of mind.”
It was as much as Tucker – and Tucker alone – to beat that, Harbaugh mentioned.
“To pull himself out of that was going to be the check, and the truth that he went by means of that, pulled himself out of it … I believe that is going to serve him properly going ahead in his profession,” Harbaugh mentioned.
