When new head coach Klint Kubiak hired Joe DeCamillis to be the Las Vegas Raiders special teams coordinator, you knew the familiarity well went deeper than between the two coaches.
And it was no surprise to see the Silver & Black link the new special teams boss with place kicker Matt Gay. The 32-year-old kicker from Utah was part of the team’s Wave 1 free agency splash last month and closed the door on re-signing longtime boot specialist Daniel Carlson.
While Gay and DeCamillis look to recapture the magic they had as kicker and special teams coordinator, respectively, with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and 2022 — those two seasons, the kicker missed just two field goals and had 94.1 and 93.3 field goal percentages — the Las Vegas Raiders would be wise to hedge their best in the 2026 NFL Draft.
This year’s crop of place kicker prospects available later this month is intriguing, but there’s one in particular that can ignite a true kicking competition in Las Vegas: Hawaii’s Kansei Matsuzawa.
By The NumbersKansei Matsuzawa, Place Kicker, Hawaii
- 2025: 13 games, 27 field goals made, 29 field goals attempted, 93.1 field goal percentage, 40-for-40 on extra points, 121 points scored
- Career: (2024-25), 25 games, 39 field goals made, 45 field goals attempted, 86.7 field goal percentage, 72-for-72 on extra points, 189 points scored
Dubbed the “Tokyo Toe” this Rainbow Warriors specialist is a self-taught kicker who studied by watching YouTube — of all things. But doing so landed Matsuzawa an opportunity at the University of Hawaii and he didn’t look back.
Showcasing both accuracy and ability to handle volume, the 6-foot-2 and 200-pound kicker set the school record with 27 made field goals and tied a FBS record with 25 consecutive field goals made to start 2025. The record Matsuzawa broke was held by Jason Elam and going 40-for-40 on extra points alongside the 27 field goals made, Matsuzawa’s 121 total points was good for sixth best in the NCAA this past season.
His 2025 season made Matsuzawa a 2025 Lou Groza Award (best collegiate place kicker nod) finalist, an accolade that went to Oklahoma’s Tate Sandell (24 of 27 on field goals (88.9 percent), 35-for-35 on PATs), but the Tokyo-born specialist did earn consensus All-American honors.
But there’s quite an interesting connection with the Silver & Black, which was the catalyst to Matsuzawa’s interest in pursuing an NFL dream: As a 19-year-old tourist from Japan, he sat in the Oakland Coliseum in 2018 to watch the Raiders host the Los Angeles Rams.
“The enthusiasm, the stadium, atmosphere and everything was new to me,” Matsuzawa told ESPN. “And I felt something: ‘I want to be an NFL player.’”
Similar to Gay, Matsuzawa was a two-year starter in college.
Gay was Utah’s specialist from 2017-18 where he went 30-of-34 (88.2 percent) on field goals and 40-for-40 on extra points in 2017. The Utah native followed that up going 26-of-31 (83.9 percent) and 45-for-45 in 2018. And that season parlayed itself into becoming the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ fifth-round pick (145th overall) in the 2019 draft. By no coincidence, that was the draft where Raiders general manager John Spytek served as the Bucs’ director of player personnel (2016-20). So the connections not only lie with DeCamillis, but the Raiders chief personnel man, too.
Gay only spent his rookie year in Tampa, going 27-of-35 (77.1 percent) on field goals and 43-for-48 on extra points. He was released and then scooped up by the Rams where he spent 2020-22 — the later two seasons being his best as a pro.
DeCamillis is lauded for player development amongst the specialists under his charge and perhaps, he can rejuvenate Gay’s career. But adding a prospect like Matsuzawa (even though being 27 years old may dissuade some) as a Day 3 pick (he’s projected to go through rounds five through seven; highest fourth) can bring out the best in both the veteran and rookie.
Matsuzawa’s long-range abilities weren’t thoroughly tested during his two seasons as a Rainbow Warrior. One of his two misses in 2025 arrived from the 50-yards-plus range, although he did drill a 52-yard boot. Matsuzawa’s other miss was from the 30-39-yard range.
In comparison, in his seven years in the NFL, Gay is 32-of-54 (59.2 percent) from 50 yards or more. In 2025, split between the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders, he went 17 of 23 (73.9 percent) on field goals and 26-for-26 on PATs.
Hence why competition is ideal.
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