New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh takes a lot of pride in being a special teams guy, which is probably why he didn’t let last year’s heartbreak scare him away from handing the kicking job to undrafted rookie Dominic Zvada.
The third phase doesn’t always get the credit it deserves, but it certainly gets almost all of the blame. It comes with the territory -- as a special teams guy, it’s usually better to fly under the radar than to be in the headlines, because that typically means you’ve done something very, very wrong.
Harbaugh had seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time first-team All-Pro Justin Tucker as his kicker in Baltimore for 13 years before he was cut due to a combination of declining performance and an investigation into serious off-field allegations regarding inappropriate sexual behavior.
That led the Ravens to draft a kicker for the first time in franchise history in 2025: Tyler Loop. Baltimore selected the Arizona product with the 186th pick, and with its playoff hopes on the line against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18, the rookie missed a potential game-winning 44-yard field goal wide right as time expired in a 26-24 loss.
Sounds like the perfect recipe for some rookie-kicker PTSD.
But after Friday’s preseason finale against the Jets, Harbaugh did his best Michael Scott impression. As Michael Scott from The Office famously once said, “I am ready to get hurt again.”
Harbs announced after the game that Zvada will be the Giants’ kicker in 2026.
Dominic Zvada couldn’t have made Giants' kicking decision any easier for John Harbaugh
It’s borderline impossible to argue with the decision.
Zvada-matic went 81-of-90 throughout training camp before making every kick he attempted during the preseason. The 22-year-old saved his best for Friday’s 23-6 win, accounting for 11 of the Giants’ 23 points while going 3-for-3 on field goals from 23, 46, and 53 yards and knocking through both extra-point attempts.
He had been battling Ben Sauls for the job all summer, but Sauls didn’t even get a chance to fight for the job on Friday. Harbs gave Zvada the entire game to see if he was ready to handle the responsibility himself.
He proved he was.
The G-Men could look to keep Sauls on the practice squad, but getting him there might be tougher than getting any of Big Blue’s five kickers to put the football through the uprights last year. Ultimately, Zvada’s leg strength, consistency, and potential were too much for Harby to overlook.
And considering how his last season ended, that’s quite the vote of confidence.
The 63-year-old watched a rookie kicker miss a 44-yarder that helped end his final season in Charm City. Eight months later, he had every reason to play it safe rather than put his faith in another one.
No way. No how.
Loop’s miss might have helped end Harbaugh’s 18-year run in Baltimore, but it wasn’t going to scare him away from making the right decision with Zvada.
Add us as a preferred source on Google