Maryland kicker Brad Craddock is preparing for the draft by continuing to work with longtime Ravens kicker and Ring of Honor member Matt Stover, who the former Terp called a “huge plus in my life.” As for the Ravens’ current kicker, Justin Tucker, Craddock makes sure that he keeps his distance.
“It’s funny. I actually don’t watch him much because he’s got such a big leg and how he kicks is so different to me,” Craddock said during his media availability Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I’m a little jealous, or a lot. It’s hard for me to watch him and what he does. I try not to watch guys that aren’t technically the same as me because it makes me want to do something that I don’t do. I watch more [New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski] and guys like that.”
Craddock, an Australia native, finished his senior season by going 8-for-10 on field-goal attempts and 22-for-23 on point-after tries before his season ended prematurely because of a hand injury.
A winner of the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top kicker as a junior in 2014, Craddock is hoping to get an opportunity in the NFL. He said that he’s gotten positive feedback from teams and his primary focus is working on his kickoffs and trying to get more length.
“I changed my technique a little bit about a month ago, so we’re still trying to get that down, get that right,” Craddock said. “I’m hoping the next couple of months, we consolidate that and we’re good.”
Craddock said that the pre-combine advice from Stover, who he is working with regularly in College Park, was to just “trust the technique and trust what you’ve been doing for the last three years and keep working at it."
“That’s pretty much what he’s been telling me for the last three years. We keep going on that,” Craddock said. “He’s been everything really, technique-wise and mentally. He’s helped me a lot.”