Ryan Eckley has a routine before his biggest punts, and it isn't complicated. He tells the sideline what's coming, then does it.
"He's going out there, and he's 'laying bombers,' as he says. He says, 'Coach, I'm going to do a bomber!' And he goes out there, and he bombs it," special teams coordinator Anthony Levine Sr. said on Tuesday, when asked what stood out about Eckley's performance in Saturday's preseason win over the Vikings.
"The hangtime is good, and the direction is good."
Levine credited senior special teams coach Randy Brown for the development, but kept coming back to the same thing when asked what's made the rookie's transition to the pros look so smooth.
"It's his confidence, his personality. He is totally himself all the time," Eckley said. "He is so confident, but his personality is off the chain. Whatever he says he can do, he goes out there and he does it. I like being around him."
The numbers back Levine up. Eckley's NFL debut a week earlier against the Eagles hadn't gone smoothly — his very first punt as a pro traveled just 27 yards, nowhere close to what he'd shown in college. Against the Vikings, he answered with six punts covering 332 total yards, an average of 55.3 that alone topped what Baltimore's previous punter ever averaged across an entire season here. Two of the six landed inside Minnesota's 20-yard line.
Eckley is the Ravens' answer to a real need. Baltimore drafted him in the sixth round, 211th overall, in April after longtime punter Jordan Stout left in free agency to sign with the Giants.
It's a lineage Eckley stepped into with some history behind it. The last two Ravens punters both turned into Pro Bowlers — Koch spent 16 years in the role before Stout succeeded him and reached that level himself within a few seasons, and both, like Eckley, came into the building as Ravens draft picks.
Baltimore beat out the field for Eckley too, according to Brown, who pushed hard for him over Georgia's Brett Thorson (later signed by the Vikings) and edged out Luke Elzinga, a lefty the Ravens had brought in as a placeholder before the draft.
The college resume backs up the swagger. Eckley spent four seasons at Michigan State, starting in 2023 after backing up Bryce Baringer, who went on to be a sixth-round pick himself.
No punter in the country had a better 2025 than Eckley did, with a nation-leading 48.5-yard average that also earned him Big Ten Punter of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten honors. Zoom out to his full four years, and the number that stands out is 47.6 — his career average, the best any punter has ever posted in Big Ten history.
The numbers behind that average tell their own story: roughly one out of every three punts he hit landed inside the opponent's 20-yard line, and nearly half his career total cleared 50 yards in the air. Brown has also pointed to a detail that doesn't show up in a stat line: Eckley doubles as the Ravens' holder on placekicks, a role Brown has called just as important as the leg itself.
There's a personality behind the numbers, too. Eckley has said he can't picture a life where he isn't punting, and he's not shy about enjoying it.
He became known in college for celebrating especially good punts, once comparing it directly to a receiver's touchdown dance after pinning an opponent at the 1-yard line. "A receiver scores a touchdown, they get to celebrate in the end zone. I hit a really cool punt, I think I should be able to hit a little celebration too," he said at the time.
Born in Lithia, Florida, and a Newsome High School product, Eckley arrived at Michigan State as a preferred walk-on before ever cracking the two-deep — a five-star recruit at his position who still had to wait his turn.
He's not waiting anymore. Through Baltimore's first stretch of the season, Eckley has punted the ball well enough to already look like exactly what Brown promised Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta he'd be worth drafting: someone who backs up what he says on the sideline every single time he jogs onto the field.