The New York Giants employed a merry-go-round of mediocre kickers in 2025. After former starter Graham Gano was sidelined with groin and neck injuries, the G-Men cycled between Jude McAtamney, Younghoe Koo, and Ben Sauls for the remainder of the season.
For all that was happening with the rest of the roster, the Giants simply couldn't put their kicker issues to bed. Most of their options either underperformed or couldn't stay healthy, leading to uncertainty at the position throughout the year.
We're most of the way through the 2026 offseason, and this issue still hasn't been resolved. Sauls is set to enter training camp in a position battle with undrafted rookie Dominic Zvada. While Zvada has had an impressive offseason so far, fans are ready to be done with the kicker drama that has plagued the team over the last year.
Giants still can't get past lingering kicker problem
Sauls was the best of the Giants' kickers last season, making all seven of his extra points and all eight of his field goal attempts in the final three weaks of the year. Koo struggled to hit anything but chip shots, and Gano couldn't stay on the field. Sauls entered the offseason fighting Jason Sanders for the starting job, but Zvada has gained steam throughout the spring. Now, the rookie is the favorite to win the battle and send Sauls packing.
According to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, Zvada has been the biggest surprise player of the Giants' offseason thus far. Raanan said, "Zvada, an undrafted free agent, went into this spring basically as the No. 3 kicker. Veteran Jason Sanders was considered the favorite this season. But before the spring was even over, Sanders was cut and Zvada became the front-runner ahead of Ben Sauls. It probably helped that the media didn't see Zvada miss this spring as he went 13-for-13 on field goal attempts at minicamp."
It's great to see Zvada succeeding at minicamp, but this position battle could have been put to rest months ago. The Giants replaced their head coach this offseason, added multiple key free agents, and made two first-round selections, but their kickers are drawing a large portion of the attention at minicamp.
Hopefully, Zvada can continue his offseason form into the regular season. If he does, he'll give New York a long-term answer at kicker. If not, get ready to board the kicker rollercoaster once again.
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