Does Jude McAtamney have a chance to unseat Graham Gano?
Watch Jude McAtamney and Graham Gano kick during New York Giants practices, and it is crystal clear that the 25-year-old McAtamney has a stronger leg, probably much stronger, than the 38-year-old Gano.
Gano is a 16-year veteran who has had a a number of serious leg injuries during his career, and missed games with knee and hamstring injuries the past two seasons.
Back in 2018, Gano, then with the Carolina Panthers, kicked a 63-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Giants. Those days are likely gone. Gano, a Giant since 2020, has a franchise-record 25 field goals beyond 50 yards. Joe Danelo is second with just nine. As a Giant, Gano is 25 of 31 (80.6%) from 50 yards and beyond.
The days when Gano is nearly automatic from those lengthy distances, though, may be gone.
Watch Gano kick now and he generally takes the lowest possible path to getting the ball where it needs to go. Some of that is strategic, as Gano has said in the past that lower kicks are necessitated by the tricky MetLife Stadium winds. It’s also true, though, that some of that is because that is what is left in Gano’s right leg as he begins his 16th NFL season. What his true range is at this point is unknown, but it can’t be what it once was.
Watch McAtamney kick and the ball explodes off his foot. The kicks soar higher and generally go farther than Gano’s.
That doesn’t mean McAtamney is a better placekicker than Gano.
But, could he be?
Special teams coach Michael Ghobrial insisted during OTAs that McAtamney “absolutely” had a chance to unseat Gano.
“I think if you’re on this roster, no matter what position you play, you’re competing. You’re competing to win the job,” Ghobrial said. “I think everybody will have a fair chance winning whatever job it is, whether it be the kicker position or any other position.”
Is that an indication there will be a real competition? Or, just a way to encourage a young player to keep grinding and honing his craft?
The Giants would not have kept Gano this offseason at a 2025 cap number of $5.665 million if they didn’t believe they could trust him to make the kicks placekickers are supposed to make, from 50 yards and in, and could still be counted on out to 52 or 53 yards.
Over the years, though, the Giants have watched a number of young kickers they had on their 90-man roster lose jobs to veterans and go on to successful careers. Chris Boswell, Brandon McManus, and Joey Slye come to mind.
The Giants will do what they think is best for 2025, but it would be hard to watch yet another young kicker get away and go on to have a long career.
McAtamney made an extra point and his only field goal attempt (31 yards) in his only game action last season.
It is hard to get past the reality that McAtamney made just 12 of 18 field goal attempts (66.7%) at Rutgers in 2022 and lost that job in 2023.
The Giants, though, see potential. Could that lead to an ascension to the 53-man roster?
Probably not, but it’s not impossible.
