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Pro Football Focus rankes Ravens as number one special teams unit in NFL

By Matthew Cohen
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

This is why the Ravens wanted to lock up Justin Tucker.

Pro Football focus ranked all 32 special teams units in the NFL from 2015, and the Ravens are atop the list.

In Tucker and Sam Koch, the Ravens have the two best legs in the NFL. Last season, Tucker hit 33 of 40 field goals, or an 82.5% clip. Believe it or not, but this was actually Tucker’s worst season in his career. Tucker’s career field goal percentage is 87.8, and he hit more than 90% of his field goals in both 2012 and 2013. Tucker has never missed a field goal within 29 yards, and he has only missed one from within 39 yards.

From beyond 50, Tucker is an unbelievable 18 for 30. And that could be much higher if not for Tucker’s "down" year last season. The Ravens signed Justin Tucker to a four-year deal just before the franchise tag deadline. The deal made Tucker the highest paid kicker in terms of guaranteed money in NFL history.

Tucker has proved to be well worth the money in terms of his consistency, and ability to make clutch field goals, most notably his 61-yard game-winning kick against the Detroit Lions in 2013 , and his game-winning field goal in double overtime against the Denver Broncos during the Ravens Super Bowl run in 2012.

While not at a "sexy" position, Sam Koch has been one of the best punters in the NFL. Koch was in the top 10 in nearly every punting statistic in 2015. And that’s even though Koch had a smaller sample size than other punters. The Ravens only had 74 punts last season, which was 17th in the NFL.

Teams like the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Texans which are at the top of the NFL in terms of punts attempted are also near the top of other categories. So Koch being in the top ten of most categories despite being on the field less is pretty spectacular. In 2015, Koch had a 39.2% of punts inside the 20-yard line, almost four percent better than his career average. Koch did a stellar job last season of forcing the opposing team to drive the length of the field.

The least heralded member of the Ravens special teams core is Morgan Cox. Cox has been an extremely reliable long snapper. I personally can’t think of any major mistakes Cox has made in his career. Cox has never snapped it over Koch’s head or made the job any harder for Tucker’s holder. Cox puts the ball right on the money every time.

All in all, it really comes without any surprise that the Ravens’ special teams find's itself ranked atop the NFL.

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