Ravens Special Teams Coordinator Praises Confidence of Young Specialists

The Baltimore Ravens have replaced all but one of their special teams pillars with new blood and their new coordinator outlined what they need to do to be successful.

Dec 27, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Baltimore Ravens place kicker Tyler Loop (33) makes a field goal during the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Over the course of the last year, the Baltimore Ravens have almost completely turned over their group of specialists, with long snapper being the only holdover, as they replaced a pair of homegrown First Team All Pros with a pair of sixth-round picks in back-to-back offseasons.

Last year, they moved on from franchise legend and future Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker after using a draft pick on the position for the first time in franchise history to take Tyler Loop out of Arizona in the 2025 NFL Draft.

After letting former fourth-round gem Jordan Stout walk in free agency to become the highest-paid punter in the league, coming off a breakout season in which he earned Pro Bowl and All Pro honors, they selected rookie Ryan Eckley to compete to be his replacement.

In the same round they selected Loop last year, they also picked former Colorado wide receiver LaJohntay Wester to add more juice to the punt return unit and potentially be an all-purpose weapon as a quality depth piece on offense as well.

Heading into the 2026 season, the team's hopes for all three are very high, and first-year special teams coordinator Anthony Levine Sr. expressed his confidence in each to reach their potential and become the difference-makers they envision them to be.

Confidence of kicking specialists is evident

Michigan State's Ryan Eckley celebrates after a deep punt against Boston College during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When speaking with the media following the Ravens' third and final session of Organized Team Activities, the word Levine used several times when referencing both Loop and Eckley was "confidence," and each of them possessed a lot of it.

This is especially good news to hear as it pertains to the second-year kicker, who had a solid rookie season overall but missed some crucial kicks in high-leverage moments last season and struggled with landing zone infractions on kickoffs throughout. He finished 30-of-34 on field goal attempts and 44-of-46 on point-after attempts, being perfect from inside 40 yards, 8-of-9 from inside 50 yards and 1-of-4 from 50-plus yards.

Loops' most glaring and costly miss came on his final attempt of the season with the Ravens' postseason hopes hanging in the balance, and he missed from inside 50 yards, wide right. He faced the music in the immediate aftermath and has since moved on with his belief in himself being unshaken.

"His confidence is high," Levine said. "Loop is a great guy. He's doing everything that we ask him to do, getting better every day [and] being consistent. He's being very efficient, and he's doing everything that we ask him to do. He comes in and works hard every day, and that's what we need him to be."

Being able to keep senior special team coach Randy Brown after there was so much turnover on the coaching staff following the firing of former head coach John Harbaugh was an underrated coup for the Ravens. He handpicked Loop as Tucker's successor during last year's pre-draft process and will continue to oversee his development for the foreseeable future.

"Randy Brown is the best kicking coach there is," Levine Sr. said. "He has a whole different eye for it. So, sitting there with him, just watching it and the things that he tells me to listen to, like when you listen to how the ball comes off the foot, seeing how the steps are, seeing how the plant foot is, when you are seeing things like that, and when I can sit there with Randy in the meetings and then also out here on the field, there's just a whole bunch of knowledge just being taught out there. I love learning from Randy."

Even though Eckley has yet to even play in an exhibition game in the NFL, Levine pointed to his confidence as the trait that stands out about the first-year pro the most when posed with the question.

“His confidence is out the roof.” Special Teams Coordinator Anthony Levine Sr. on @RyanEckley1 pic.twitter.com/SqGy1ieNmf

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 2, 2026

"His confidence is crazy," Levine Sr. said. "I'm going to keep using this word because that's what we preach – being efficient. With him, he's very efficient, but his confidence is [through] the roof, and he works hard. His work ethic is top notch. I would say I love his confidence, and I love how he feels about himself [and] his swagger."

Eckley was also handpicked by Brown to compete to be Stout's successor and will be in a battle with 2025 undrafted free agent Luke Elzinga for the chance to earn the job this summer, although he is currently viewed as the favorite to emerge victorious. He is coming off a senior season at Michigan State, where he led the nation with 48.5 yards per punt and comes with extensive holding experience, an underrated yet essential skill that not even his predecessor had coming out of college five years ago.

Wester will have more chances to make plays

Oct 12, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Lajohntay Wester (83) carries the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the second quarter of the game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

After absolutely dazzling in his preseason debut with a pair of impressive returns, the second of which he took to the house for an 87-yard touchdown, hopes for Wester to be the Ravens' next great return specialist were extremely high. Unfortunately, that didn't materialize once the regular season got underway, although he did consistently execute the first and primary duties of a returner.

"LaJohntay did a great job of catching the ball, fielding the ball and being efficient," Levine Sr. said. "He didn't have a lot of plays to go out there. There were a lot of fair catches [and] a lot of balls on the ground, or it was kicked short."

Wester returned few punts (16) than he had game appearances (17) and led the Ravens with 198 punt return yards with a long of 35, and got to return 10 kickoffs for 246 yards and had a long of 32. Heading into his second season, he's still the favorite to be the primary return specialist on punt returns and could handle more kick return duties as well following the departure of Keaton Mitchell in the offseason.

"I think [he will have more opportunities] this year with the way that we are doing things and how we are going to line him up because he's very dynamic with the ball in his hands [and with] the way he's able to get vertical and cut," Levine Sr. said.

"With him, I just need him to just keep doing what he's doing, keep being consistent in catching the ball and keep fielding the ball well. Once he gets the ball in his hands, he will do what he does – play off the blockers, get vertical and go score touchdowns."

The Ravens' last Pro Bowl return specialist was 2020 third-round wide receiver Devin Duvernay, who earned the honors in back-to-back years from 2021-22 and was named First Team All Pro in just his second year. To expect Wester to make that kind of jump in 2026 would be overly optimistic, but he's certainly capable of being more of a factor on both punt and kick returns.