The Baltimore Ravens got on the field in Owings Mills for the final time before summer training camp this week and Luke Jones and Nestor discuss all aspects of the offensive preparation and changes to the Todd Monken attack designed for Lamar Jackson. DaAndre Hopkins came here to win a Super Bowl. This team is loaded. Now, can they win a Super Bowl?
Luke Jones and Nestor Aparicio discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ mini camp, highlighting the presence of the entire 90-man roster except for Darius Washington and Emory Jones. Lamar Jackson and DeAndre Hopkins were noted for their performances, with Jackson defending Mark Andrews and expressing support for Jaire Alexander. Hopkins’ role is expected to be complementary, focusing on contested catches and red zone targets. Tyler Loop’s recent struggles in practice were mentioned, with John Hoyland performing well, indicating a potential kicking competition. The conversation also touched on the Ravens’ offseason moves and the importance of winning in January.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Ravens offense, Lamar Jackson, DeAndre Hopkins, training camp, mini camp, Cooper Rush, Mark Andrews, Derrick Henry, Tyler Loop, John Hoyland, Justin Tucker, NFL investigation, OTAs, wide receivers, Baltimore crab cake tour.
SPEAKERS
8
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 task Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive, positively into a summer months around here doing our Maryland crab cake tour in love the word unconventional Phil Jackman’s daughter used that in regard to Earl Weaver’s relationship with Phil Jackman, who referred to Earl Weaver as Spanky in writing on many, many occasions. And when you think Earl Weaver and spanking, you think about the old argument with with Haller, you know, it’s or what Ken Kaiser would say at that point. The Maryland lottery brings us the Back to the Future scratch offs. We’re going to be we’re at the Y earlier this week. We’re going to be in readers crab house, up in Reisterstown, in on the 26th that’s next week. Glad that’s coming up already, already next Thursday. We’re also going to be at cost this in Timonium on the 12th of July. We’re going to be at 1623, brewing. I put a whole ad together. You’ll hear it here at W, N, S, T, you can find it out at Baltimore positive. It is all brought to you by our friends at curio wellness. I’m wearing my curio wellness purple shirt, which can only mean one thing. Luke Jones has been out on the fields with the real Lamar Jackson, the real M, V, P is voted on by you and Jameson Hensley and all bunch of other people who have press credentials as I don’t how are things in Owings was house, Chad House, John. How’s Eric? How are things?
Luke Jones 01:30
Things are good. I mean, the whole band’s in town for a two day mini camp, and I even hear the billionaire is is out breathing the same air as the serfs. I saw Steve Bucha de Albee, but yeah, he’s there, and they had the entire 90 man roster, other than our Darius Washington, who’s hurt, and Emory Jones, our third round pick, who’s also hurt, but should be ready for training camp. So all accounted for everyone there, everyone looks healthy, guys running around, even a couple guys that were banged up last week, Beau braid and Adobe ouzier, they were back on the field. So, you know, just enough to give you a little, a little taste, a little preview of training camp. And then they’re going to go away for five weeks again, right? And then five weeks from now, it starts for real. Then, you know, you start ramping up. You put the pads on all these young guys that have made impressions in the spring. We’ll see if we say their name again, right? I mean, I always, I always, kind of allude to some of those spring all stars, guys that look great in helmets and shorts, but, you know, you put the pads on and suddenly they they shrink a little bit, but pretty, pretty uneventful day as as far as what was on the field on Tuesday. And that’s what you kind of expect during mini camp. You don’t want to get anyone hurt. But afterwards, we heard from Lamar Jackson, we heard from DeAndre Hopkins. We heard from T Martin, the quarterbacks coach who talked about Lamar, talked about Cooper rush, their new backup quarterback who got plenty of reps this spring to kind of get up to speed. But, you know, I mean, with Lamar, the big takeaways were going out of his way. I mean, he wasn’t even asked about Mark Andrews directly. I think he was asked about DeAndre Hopkins at the time, and he kind of pivoted mid thought to really defend Mark Andrews, just in terms of what kind of player he is, what he means to him. You know, how important he’s been to the Ravens all that. And he was asked, as you would expect, about Jair Alexander, his former Louisville teammate. And his quote was, Go get him, Eric, you know. And, and he provided the caveat, knowing like, Hey, I know it’s business all that, but go get America. So, you know, those are kind of the headlines from Lamar, and first time we’ve really heard from him at length since January. But you know, nothing earth shattering. Just asked about January, asked about buffalo, asked about the next step, asked about DeAndre Hopkins, and it was about what you would expect to hear from the two time MVP quarterback
Nestor Aparicio 04:01
throwing it around, yeah,
8Luke Jones 04:03
yeah. I mean, I, I’d say this, I mean, and I talked about this a little bit when we were talking about OTAs, and you certainly notice a difference, right when it’s Lamar Jackson operating the offense compared to Cooper rush, who,
Nestor Aparicio 04:16
I hope so,
Luke Jones 04:17
yeah. I mean, of course, of course, of course. And I don’t, and I don’t mean that, you know, I don’t mean that as any kind of a slight to Lamar or or even the the other guys. I mean, it’s clearly a difference, right? I mean, you’re talking about a $52 million quarterback compared to Cooper rush, who’s, you know, with incentives, might be a three or $4 million quarterback, and you’re hoping he doesn’t have to play at all, right? I mean, that’s, that’s how it works. But, you know, you certainly notice a difference. And I said this to you even when Lamar was around for the first week of OTAs. I mean, looked great. I Trenton Simpson picked him off once during seven on sevens. I mean, good for Trenton Simpson, right? I mean, a confidence builder for a guy they they need to be better. Had linebacker next to roquan Smith, but you. Know, throwing it around. I think something that you know, really kind of stood out having talked to Lamar and DeAndre Hopkins, is you get the sense that they’re going to be able to build a rapport, and sooner than later, I think they brought in DeAndre Hopkins for a very clear purpose, you know, a guy that can win on the outside a little bit more than some of the receivers they’ve had in recent years, a guy that can win some 5050, balls. You know, one thing we’ve talked about a lot with Lamar and the passing game and this offense, and it’s really a credit to Todd monkin and the wide receivers as well, but Lamar making the right decisions, making throws on time, all that. But you know, most of what they do with their passing game because their offense is so dynamic, because you have the threat of the quarterback who can run at any time, because you have Derrick Henry, because you have all these weapons. You look at the metrics, Lamar Jackson through to open or wide open receivers as much as anyone in the league last year. And that’s not that’s not a slight on anyone, that’s that speaks to how great the operation is overall, but also understanding that there are times that you have to throw it into coverage, you have to throw it into a tighter window, you have to ask a wide receiver to say, Hey, this is a route where you’ve got to win a 5050 ball. That’s why they brought in DeAndre Hopkins not to be a number one wide receiver. He’s not that anymore. They’re not paying him to be a number one wide receiver. They’re not paying him to be a number two wide receiver. They’re paying him to be a better version of Nelson Aguilar. They’re being paying him to be a better version of what Odell Beckham Jr was two years ago. Right? I said
Nestor Aparicio 06:39
8too much. Is he going to be on the field? I mean, that that’s a question for me. In two tight end, three, wide receiver you got? You got Derek, Henry, who you want getting? I mean, sure, there’s one football, and a lot of you, and I’ll throw it to you, because I just want to beat on you in the summer. Want Lamar to run more or run or run eight to 10 or 12 times? You know, you’re sort of expecting to do that right, in addition to throw the ball, however many times he throws it, in order for them to to need to win. But for Hopkins, this is a little dreamy, that he isn’t, in any way the focus of things, because in his prime, he was the guy you had to worry about when you went to Houston.
Luke Jones 07:17
Yeah. I mean in his prime, I mean, you’re talking about a guy’s a five time Pro Bowl wide receiver, a guy that won all pro select, you know, had all pro selection. You
Nestor Aparicio 07:25
wrote whole off seasons about how the Ravens need to make their deals to defend him, because they didn’t have anything like that, right?
Luke Jones 07:32
Or they needed a guy like that. You know, for sure, going back, going back to Joe Flacco, even for you, well,
8Nestor Aparicio 07:37
he stunk. I mean, he couldn’t throw the ball to a guy like I mean, but what would they want? Why would they want Why would they want the Andre Hopkins in his prime for Joe flacca, well, hey, or Derek Henry, for that matter. But hey, it’s a dream team here. They keep doing everything I tell them to do now, Eric, I appreciate you still listening out there. Man. You know,
Luke Jones 07:53
they just need to do it in January, right? I mean, that’s, that’s what it’s all about, but, but I think with Hopkins, it’s a very specific skill set. Look to answer your question, he’s not going to be on the field every play, not even close to it. And you don’t really want them to at age 33 I mean, you want it to be more of a specialized role. They’re going to be in 11 personnel. When I say 11 personnel for the novice, it’s one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers. You know they’re going to be in that personnel, because they were in that personnel more last year than they had been under, certainly going back to Greg Roman a couple years ago. So so you’re going to see that, but he gives them another option on the outside. He gives them someone who can make contested catches. He gives them another target inside the red zone. Is he going to be 1000 yard receiver? No, I don’t expect that if he is that means probably something’s happened as a flowers or Rashad Bateman, or the tight ends aren’t healthy, or the running game isn’t quite as insane as it normally is. But I think there’s absolutely a path for him to be a guy that I don’t know, five 600 receiving yards, but also catches, catches five or six touchdowns, right? You know? And again, I’m just spitballing here. That’s not my serious projection, that I’m trying to crunch the numbers. But well, first
Nestor Aparicio 09:12
things, get him on the field 14 out of the 17 games, whatever that number is, right?
Luke Jones 09:16
8And that’s obviously so critical when you’re talking about veteran players. So I mean, he played last year. I mean, obviously he started out the year with the Titans. He was traded to Kansas City. What was interesting about his year with the Chiefs was, you would think it’d be the opposite, but he made more of an impact early on. When he was acquired by the chiefs, he kind of faded from their offense down the stretch. I mean, I think he caught a touchdown in the Super Bowl, but remember, they were getting boat raced at that point in time by the Eagles. You know, he didn’t make a massive impact, but you look at his collective work in 2024 for the Titans and for the chiefs, albeit, you know, the Ravens have a much different offense than either of those teams. I mean, Tennessee didn’t have a quarterback last year that they had, and. Trust in and you know, Kansas City is Kansas City, right? And he was coming in trying to swim upstream, you know, in the middle of the season. But you look at his collective numbers in 16 games, 56, catches, 610 yards, five touchdowns, if the Ravens get something like that from him, as the number three wide receiver, who’s making $5 million a year. You know, he’s making $5 million this year. Not saying you’re doing like you’re throwing a parade for him, but I think you’ll take that. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 10:30
he’s independently wealthy. He’s here. He’s only here for one reason. He wants to win. I mean, he, oh, you know, with Lamar, he wants to play Lamar, right? I mean, so like, you’ve got, you’ve a motivated workforce is always good, especially this time of year. You can ask, like, the Bengals or some other places where, or, you know, people in Pittsburgh wonder, what Aaron Roger? You know, there’s a lot of questions going on, but when you have veteran guys that want to be in the organization, and that’s been a testament to Ozzy and Eric and the whole the whole place, I mean, veteran players want to sign and play with the ravens, whether it’s Steve Smith, whether it’s Eric, well, you know, just go down the list. They’re good at that, and they’re good at many times, being able to maximize whatever this is. Sometimes that work out. But, you know, keep them on the field is the first thing. If he’s on the field, will he be productive? I believe he will be. I, you know, I mean, I check off on this one? Yeah. I
Luke Jones 11:21
mean, again, for me, it’s a simplistic way of looking at it, because he’s not going to do exactly the same things. But is he going to be better than Nelson Aguilar was last year? Is he going to be better than what Odell Beckham was two years ago? And if the answer is yes, then it’s $5 million well spent and that. And to be clear, that’s not a high bar, right? That that’s not him needing you know he’s not going to be the guy that he was in Houston. I mean, this was a at his peak. He was a 1500 yard, 1112, 13, touchdown kind of wide receiver. I mean, one, he’s not that guy anymore. Two, they don’t need him to be that guy. So he comes in. You hope that he acclimates himself well. You hope that he’s a good presence for zay flowers and Rashad Bateman, who are Stu still very young wide receivers, give them a few tricks to the trade. You know that have a 33 year old who’s been in the league a decade, should have and has accumulated at this point in time, and be good on third down, win on the outside, make some contested catches, make some catches in the end zone, right? I mean, that’s that, that’s, doesn’t, doesn’t need to be an 1100 yard receivers that. That’s why I said all along. My quickest reaction to him is it’s very much like the Odell Beckham signing two years ago, except at a much more appropriate price point right now. I mean, he’s, he’s 33 and he did wear down. He did kind of fade out of Kansas City’s offense last year. It might be a sign that he’s close to being done, or maybe it was just a sign of, hey, Kansas City also had Xavier worthy that was emerging, and they got Hollywood brown back at the end of the season and and you know that they Kelsey was rounding in the form, right? Well,
Nestor Aparicio 13:03
this offense here has a lot of ways to beat you that don’t include DeAndre Hopkins and just the name itself jumping out in lights is its own little thing, right? But it’s it’s also like Derek Henry better be the one beating you. Lamar Jackson better be Mark Andrews a flower. Let’s go down the list here. Isaiah likely. I mean, you know, all of them are going to be, I think, bigger parts of this, but I don’t you know. I’m not going to discount how important Nelson Aguilar was, or how important DeAndre Hopkins could be on a third and seven when you have Lamar on the field, maybe you don’t have Derek Emery on the field at that point that he could get the ball
8Luke Jones 13:42
and, yeah, you know, yeah, no question. I mean, you want him to be a good complimentary piece, and that’s what they signed him to be. $5 million is that’s a complimentary wide receiver in this day and age. I mean, it sounds kind of crazy to think back to all it’s $5 million but I mean, the the elite of the elite wide receivers now are getting $30 million a year. That’s why, you know, going back a couple of weeks ago, I made mention of the Bateman deal. And hey, what does that mean for zay flowers in a couple years? I mean, who knows. I mean, we’re gonna have to see where this team is, roster wise, Cap wise, production wise, all that. But you know, in the meantime, you bring in someone who has the kind of profile that Hopkins has, and as long as your expectations are reasonable, I think this can be a really nice signing for them. I said that when they signed him. I mean, he wants to be here this. Remember, there had been a couple different points. You go back to Lamar with the contract talk a couple years ago. Remember he? Who did he want? He wanted, Odell Beckham Jr, and DeAndre Hopkins. Well, DeAndre Hopkins was under contract at that point in time with Arizona, so they signed Beckham. They overpaid, and they signed Beckham. You know, there was a Lamar tax there, right? I mean, looking back at it in hindsight, they obviously overpaid, but you know, if that helped get the deal done with Lamar in a long term. Sense, it was worth it, even if Beckham was no better than fine at his best for the Ravens when he was healthy. But you know, I think again, the motivation that you mentioned, he wants to win. He got to the Super Bowl last year. Didn’t win. It. Could he have resigned with Kansas City? I mean, I don’t know. I mean, it didn’t seem like there was a whole lot of juice for the chiefs to bring them back. I don’t know that for certain, but he signed pretty quickly with the Ravens. And he signed very quickly for very cheap. So it speaks to he wanted to play in Baltimore. Specifically wanted to play with Lamar Jackson, you know, keep in mind, albeit briefly, you know, you looked at, uh, you know him with, I guess, yeah, he was with Derrick Henry, 22,023 I correct. Oh, yeah. I was thinking for a second that Derek Henry, they missed each other by a year. But, no, they played together. I
Nestor Aparicio 15:49
was also wondering how much time he spent with the Deshaun Watson too, because he was there before Watson was so,
Luke Jones 15:54
yeah, well, I mean, he was 2013 was his first year in the league, I mean, and he was, remember, he was, he was a guy that was not like a top 10 kind of pick. He was 27th overall in 2013 so it’s a shame he didn’t fall a few more spots. Would have been interesting to see if the Ravens would have taken him rather than Matt Elam that year. But, you know, water under the bridge 12 years later. But you know, this guy’s had a terrific career. And, you know, he’s had some injuries in his career, but it hasn’t necessarily been, oh, he’s, you know, he’s had plenty of years going through 2013 16 games, 1416, games. 2015 16 games, 16 games, 15 games, 16 games, 15. So get to 2021 and 22 he did have some injuries those two years. But 2023 17 games last year, 16 games, and that was even being traded in the middle of the year. So this has been a pretty durable player. Durable. I always say it. Guys are durable until they’re not anymore and fully acknowledging he’s 33 so you never quite know, but on paper again for $5 million doesn’t mean you have to be doing cartwheels over it, but there’s no reason to dislike this deal. I said that at the time when they signed him, there’s no reason under the sun to not like this deal doesn’t mean you have to love it. Doesn’t mean that you have insane expectations, because you shouldn’t. But I think he gives them something in their passing game that they haven’t necessarily had a whole lot of. It’s another guy that wins on the outside Lamar has if you look at the metrics, as much as part of the reputation for Lamar as a passer going back a couple years ago was what he couldn’t throw outside. The numbers as well. The numbers suggest he’s been way better in that department over the last couple years than he had been earlier in his career. So if he has give yourself another weapon that can win on the outside and can make more contested catches, and, you know, turn a 5050, ball into, I don’t know, a 7030 ball, which is, you know, kind of in his career. I mean, that guy has made contested catch after contested catch. And the other thing about Hopkins that I think’s interesting, when you kind of think about it, he’s played with a lot of different quarterbacks. I mean, think about it, who did this guy start out playing with? This guy’s playing with Matt Shaw. That speaks to how long he’s been in the league, that Matt Schaub was his quarterback in Houston once upon a time. So, but he’s played with a lot of quarterbacks, and some of them, some of them not great, and he’s still been the productive player that he’s been. So, you know, obviously this summer is going to be big for Lamar and Hopkins to build the kind of rapport that they need to build, and it’s got to fit, it’s got to make sense. To your point, he’s not going to be on the field every snap, nor should
Nestor Aparicio 18:48
8he. I’m thinking case Keenum, you got me.
Luke Jones 18:53
I mean, you think about it. I mean, okay, he was with Kyler Murray in Arizona, but Kyler Murray’s had some injuries. I mean, Tennessee. I mean, they tried to make will Levis a thing, and you see how much they thought of that. They pivoted to Cam ward with the first pick this year. So you know, he’s played, he’s played with some good quarterbacks too, don’t get me wrong, but he’s played with some quarterbacks that have left something.
Nestor Aparicio 19:13
He’s got Lamar in his prime here, he should be okay. Yeah, no question. I mean, whatever
Luke Jones 19:17
is left of DeAndre Hopkins at this point in his career, you’d like to think that the Ravens can maximize it, given everything else you have, this guy doesn’t have to. This isn’t the Ravens signing Jeremy Maclin in 2017 and he’s being miscast as a number one wide receiver because they don’t have anyone better, right? This is a situation where zay flowers was a Pro Bowl wide receiver last year, zay flowers had 1000 yards last year. Bateman is coming off of a career high kind of season, and looked the part of, Okay, maybe not a number one, but he’s a rock solid number two wide receiver. Yeah, you have Andrews unlikely, right? You have a running game that’s the best in football. So, yeah, come in and be part of the game. And come in and be part of what this is, which is a really explosive offense that you know should have no problem, scoring points week in and week out, right? And and come in and it might be as simple as this. Yeah, DeAndre, you might not have big time numbers, but if you help the help the Ravens win in week one in Buffalo because you make a key catch on third down, or you make a big touchdown catch in the divisional round when you’re playing Kansas City. You know, these are the this is what we’re at at this point, right? I mean this, you know, part of our our our sparring back and forth about Derrick Henry last year, it still came back to the same premise that we both had, which was, this is all about winning in January. Everything you do, yes, you have to win in the regular season to get to that point. But everything you do, you’re thinking in the back of your mind, how is this helping us beat the chiefs? How is this helping us beat the bills? How is this helping us beat Cincinnati, if we’re playing them in January, how’s this help us beat the Texans? Go down the list of anyone that you think is going to be in the in the field come January. Everything is about January, right? It all comes back to that. So DeAndre Hopkins, this for me. This isn’t a guy that I’m thinking in terms of volume with production. This is moments, moments in time that he can help you win games, help you do very specific things in very specific spots and help you win games. And not saying he’s guaranteed to do that, but I think that’s that’s really what I would have in mind when I’m talking about expectations for DeAndre Hopkins. Can he help you be better in situational football situations that maybe the Ravens haven’t been quite as good at, and there haven’t been many of those, but certainly in January, we’ve talked about that, about it in those terms. So can he rise to the occasion and make some big plays and flash that what, what he used to be as a 1500 yard receiver in a couple spots here and there?
8Nestor Aparicio 21:53
Luke Jones is here. He will be there in Owings Mills, as long as they allow him to be there. I will be here, as long as well our Creator is willing. It is summertime around here, the Orioles are on the road. They’re up in Yankee Stadium this weekend. We’re taking the Maryland crab cake tour on the road. Will be in Reisterstown next week, we’re gonna be out in Eldersburg. We’re gonna be back in Timonium. I had the dinner at the new Costas on Monday night. Had a little salmon st Saint Michael’s over there. It was delicious. I’ll be doing that in July with Johnny Oh, our congressman. So we got a lot of things going on. I defended democracy last week. Last thing on the Ravens for me, and your observations out there of of how things are going, and Malachi Starks and just chuck Pagano, you just, in a general sense, I look at what’s going on in other places, and I think to myself, they’ve got it pretty good right now. And I, you know, I’m not a wagerer, but if I open things up, if they’re not a top three to five choice, I’d be shocked to win a Super Bowl, right like, based on health offseason, where they are, holes, perceptions of roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey and just all of it. All that being said, the kicker, and I’m waiting on the NFL investigation is, is there any word on that? Edward Murrow, we have any thing on that?
Luke Jones 23:19
Nothing to this point, right? I mean, I I think a big, you know, say what we want. And obviously you have said a lot. I’ve said a lot. Everyone said a lot about how the Ravens handled that whole thing, but the fact that they moved on when they did, and they kind of pivoted from talking about, we’re going to defer to the league, to the point where they then released Justin Tucker, it speaks to the timing, not necessarily being Swift, right? So, I mean, I think logic would tell you that they’d like to probably try to do it sometime during the dead period, which is coming up here, over the next five weeks, as dead as the NFL gets over the calendar year. But I don’t know. Maybe it does drag out longer than that. I have no idea. But, you know, Tyler loop. Unfortunately, he struggled the last couple times we’ve been out there. I mean, I thought it was interesting. So this was last Wednesday, because they canceled last Thursday, which was the final OTA day. Steve Bucha tea was there. And to that point in time, loop had been excellent. You know, me, man, I’m not. I’m not the guy at this point in in my life who’s watched enough OTAs over the years that’s going to make too much of anything good or bad. And I want to be clear about that, because this isn’t me burying Tyler loop either, because that would be absurd at this point. You don’t
Nestor Aparicio 24:33
even think the quarterback needs to be there, but that’s another that’s another story
Luke Jones 24:37
8altogether. Oh, Tyler. Tyler loop needs to be there, certainly, but, but with Steve Bucha, he was there last Wednesday, and I thought, Okay, this is kind of interesting, because Tyler loop to this point, it’s OTAs, right? He came in in rookie camp. You know, they liked what they saw. They they moved on from Tucker at that point in time. He’s gone through OTAs, I know from having even talked to some people in the. Organization, they’d been really happy with what they’ve seen from him, by the way. John Hoyland, the other kicker, I think it’s looked good too, but they got to last Wednesday, loop, had a rough day. He went, I think it was five for nine with field goals. And I did think it was just interesting looking at it through the lens of, okay, maybe he hasn’t felt pressure, because he has, you know, it’s May and June, like you’re not even having, like, a real line of scrimmage, where, where the defensive lines trying to block the kick. We’re not having any of that. So, you know, he’d been perfect until that point, for lack of a better term. I mean, maybe he’d missed a field goal here or there, but had been largely perfect, you know, in the context of what they want to see from him this time of year. But he missed five of nine, and then he was 204, on the first day of mandatory mini camp. Do I think that means that Tyler loops in trouble, or the ravens are in trouble, or anything like that? No, I don’t. I don’t think it’s appropriate to overreact in the same way that I’m not ready to say that he’s going to be peak Justin Tucker this coming fall, but it is something to monitor. And as I the thing that I will say that I think, has been reinforced by the fact that Tyler loops had a couple rough days and and Hoyland was four for four on Tuesday. That’s why they have two kickers, by the way, that’s why they have two kickers, and I want to continue to remind over and over and over, yes, the Ravens use a sixth round pick on Tyler loop. And yes, there’s even a perception that I’ve gathered that he’s the only kicker that they viewed, in their mind as being, quote, draftable. Right, from what I’ve gathered, it sounds like there’s not another kicker that they would have drafted that said it’s a sixth round pick. You and I could go through the list right now of six round picks through the Ravens didn’t even, didn’t even make it to six round picks the way I walked out of movies, exactly. So that’s not to say they don’t love Tyler Luke. That’s not to say that he’s in trouble. That’s not me overreacting to two rough practices. It’s a reminder to say that all along. And I said this even before they signed John Hoyland, before they before they got rid of Justin Tucker, I said even if Tyler Luke, you know, even if they get rid of Tucker, they’re going to bring in competition for this kid. So it’s game on, starting in late July. For the first time in a long time, I’m going to be tracking kicks with regularity. I didn’t do that with Justin Tucker over the last decade, because what was the point, right? I mean, the guy was the best kicker in football. I’m not going to sit here and breathlessly track his kicking percentage during practices, but you know, they’re going to be keeping track of those situations with loop and with hoiland now. So I just found it interesting that they had Stevie shot. And I don’t think this was like a deliberate thing that the Ravens did. I think Steve Bucha, he just wanted to come to practice and probably said, Hey, how’s the new kicker looking like, you know, how’s our Justin, Justin Tucker successor looking? So it was, well, he owns the team. He doesn’t even need to be accountable. Well, but, but he’s good. He was in, I’m sure he was interested to see how he did and well, it didn’t look has it looked great the last couple times out there, again, not overreacting to that, not sitting here saying that, that means hoiland is going to be the guy. But it does, you know, it does confirm what I had, kind of, what we talked about a couple months ago, where you’re going to bring in competition, because a six round pick is a six round
Nestor Aparicio 28:24
pick. And finding guys who kick 60 yard field goals on the regular is not just going to happen well
Luke Jones 28:29
and and to be clear, I don’t think that’s even the problem. Loops got a great leg. I mean, this guy, he’s got to make 42 year yard field goals with the game on the line, 49 out of 50. He’s got to be consistent, right? I mean, that, and that was the thing, even though Tucker, the last couple years, we had talked more and more about him not being nearly as reliable beyond 50 yards. And that was true. And that to be clear, you need that as well, to be very clear. But what you really want is you got to make the layups. You got to make the mid range jumpers, right? I mean, even though mid it sounds funny saying that, because the mid range jumper is kind of falling away from the the NBA game at this point in time, because it’s dunks are three points. There are no Bernard kings, yeah, yeah, but, but you need a kicker that can do that, right? You need a kicker that’s going to consistently make those 42 yarders, right? I mean, so loops, got him his leg I’ll take over, you know, I’ll take that right with Justin Tucker in his prime. In terms of leg talent, let’s call it, but he’s got to be consistent. And, you know, he hasn’t been as consistent the last couple times out. I’ll leave it at that. Is it? Am I worried by that? No, I’m not worried by anything in OTAs that that doesn’t involve someone suffering a season ending injury, but you know, he’s got to step it up. There’s no doubt. And like I said, in the meantime, John hoylen, done. He’s acquitted himself well, and we’re going to see what this competition looks like. And I’ll also say, Hey, these are the two names now. Come on. Tober, they might have a totally different kicker by then. They might have some veteran kicker that they’ve picked up, because neither one of these guys is getting the job done. Luke,
Nestor Aparicio 30:07
I’m going to do something now on camera that I’ve never done before in 35 years on radio. I’m going to, you’re scared, to hold my breath until I get the NFL investigation. No, I’m just kidding. Don’t do that. Yeah, I was gonna say you wouldn’t want to do that. I’ll turn as purple as my shirt. The Maryland crab cake Tour is presented by the Maryland lottery. I have the Back to the Future scratch offs. I don’t know, man, it’s summertime. Crash, dismissed. I need an Alice Cooper song. You’re an old teacher. School’s out for the summer. I’ve got senior writers. I’ve got Owings Mills. I got last place itis. I’ve got Yankee Stadium in last place. Itis this week, but thank God I had the Maryland crab cake tour. Is our 27th anniversary coming up. If you’re on the radio and listen to the radio at am 1570 or stream us, however you find us, we’re going to be talking about my 27 favorite things to eat, primarily because I want to promote 27 really cool local businesses that I actually go in and give my money to. Folks don’t know about some of these places. Some of them, they’re on the DL. Some of them I just don’t put up on social media. Many of them are my sponsors, and they’re not even the things that you think. So it’s not going to be 27 crab cakes. We do that every day, although I did have a delicious crab cake from clean cuisine, my pal Jerry I joined us over at the Y in Randallstown this week. We also met Councilman Julian Jones on. First time I’ve ever had Councilman Jones on. Spent about an hour with him. Enjoyed it. He is the councilman in the fourth district, believed to be running for Baltimore County Executive. But more than that, kind of gave me a little civics lesson, and I appreciate that from Julian. And also just you get a civics lesson when you hang out at the Y in Randallstown at the pool, and they actually were playing the YMCA song. They actually were playing the village. I’m not kidding. I shot a video. I saw it in the pool aerobics, 35 people, two in the afternoon. I text my wife, I’m like, How did I not bring a bathing suit to this gig? But I did not, but they did bring me a crab cake poolside, and I did have a great conversation with the folks at the Y, so we’re appreciative of that. And you know, when I say, like the why I like people like Chris pichitect who say, Yeah, I’m a member of the Y, go to the one in Catonsville, or people say, I’m a Dundalk y, so my next one will be at the Dundalk y, my it’s crazy. A next show for the Y will be in Dundalk, but my next show for Costas will not be in Dundalk. I’ll be in Timonium. We’re going to be up there with Johnny Oh in early July. We’re also going to be at Eldersburg at 1623, brewing, and that’s in July too. And we’re going to be in lots of places. I really want to do the show at andos, over at red brick station. I was over there. We’re going to be at Zeke’s coffee on a Friday morning with SIG and all the coffee mafia down there in laraville, David and Thomas Rhodes, all of them. And I’m also going to be at the Pasquale. I don’t have the date worked out, but it’s an early July. Pete cringe is involved in this, so he’s already text me. This is Pete, right? I mean, Coach Pete, coach, Petey summer coach in the leagues and camps. PD, says it’s going to be the best show of the summer. All right, it’s a high bar coach, but he did take you, NBC, to the Final Four in soccer. So it has been fun. I’ve had Barry Trotz on. I got a text the other day, Luke, before I let you go. And this is kind of the fun part of my life, because my white life is really weird, right? Like, one day I’m in New York, one day I’m at deepest Wally’s, one day I’m at the bar here and doing this and over there and figuring things out, and you’re in Owings Mills, being a sports guy, and I’m washed up. But I got a text on Tuesday night from Mark Bryan from Hootie and the Blowfish. He’s like, Hey, dude, I’m playing in DC Friday. I want to come on the show. I’m like, okay, the Orioles are. He’s an Oriole fan, so I’m gonna have him tell the story of how I got them the gig doing the national anthem at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and they were trapped on the golf course at turf Valley, and the word didn’t get to Darius, and the other three guys had shown up, and Darius didn’t know that he had to sing the national anthem. And this is kind of sort of before Darius was Darius. This is like 1995 this is only want to be with you. Hold my hand, and by the way, piece of Hootie and the Blowfish trivia. Diana, write this stuff down. It’s probably because I’m saying it out loud to the to Siri and the Google gods and everybody. Mike, who else is listening Microsoft, Elon Musk Putin, who else is listening to me? I’m not sure. But when I say hooting the blowfish out loud, I swear to god this morning, four in the morning, it shows up on my timeline. The video for only want to be with you. You have a song? Yeah. Do you know what local celebrity and off time visitor to this show, guy that comes on the show once or twice a year is in the video for only want to be with you? Can we give you a hint? I’ll give you a hint. Sure that this is because the guys, because D. Green and Mark are from Silver Spring. They’re, they’re Maryland guys. He a Terp. That’s my only hit for you. I’ll give you one more if you can’t get it. If you’re more of a show guy, I’d sing to you and do some stuff like that, because if I sang ease on down the road to Alan mcallist,
8Luke Jones 35:16
trying to think, if I ever saw, I’m sure I saw that video, because I loved Hootie in the blow I mean, you know, i Everyone loved Hootie and the Blowfish in the mid to late 90s. It’s funny, you made mention about Darius Rucker. That was back when you thought Darius rucker’s name was actually Hootie, right? Yeah, exactly, exactly. No, I tell me who it is. I don’t know The Wiz
Nestor Aparicio 35:38
really, Walt Williams is in dude. This is I don’t how did I not know this? And how did this show up on my timeline at 4am after Mark Bryant and I went back and forth yesterday on text, on text, we were just texting. Nobody knew we were texting. My wife didn’t even know we were texting, although I did say to her, Hey, Mark from moody, what’s come on a show tomorrow. So anyway, things are happening around here. So you never know who’s going to show up around here, whether it’s a councilman, whether it’s John Hoey from the Y, whether it’s Barry Williams, and not even the Barry Williams from the from the Brady Bunch. And I pointed that out to the Barry Williams, who was the longtime parks and Rex director and also was one of the contestants, and so you want to be Baltimore County Executive, and I got to the bottom of that. So I’ve done civics this week. I’ve done a presidential mark with an F Trump shirt on that I’m really proud of. It doesn’t just have F Trump has it five times in Cheap Trick script. So I felt like the dream police walking around Patterson Park protesting the government. But it’s been a hell of a week around here. We’re bombing Iran, um, I don’t know, um, we might even get out of last place by the all star break. I’m Nestor. He’s Luke. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. I’m gonna start singing Hootie and blowfish songs. If anybody hangs around here, you.
