No matter the offseason or preseason hype, it's the same old story for the New York Giants in the Brian Daboll-Joe Schoen era. It was the third consecutive home opener in which the Giants were embarrassed to the point where the team was booed off the field by a fanbase that is looking to be entertained by their team and, at a minimum, be competitive.
If there was a harbinger of things to come, it was before kickoff in their Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Just before the start of the game, the Giants announced that kicker Graham Gano was questionable to play after picking up a groin injury during pregame warmups. So, in this predicament, the Giants didn't have another kicker on the active roster, meaning they would either have to go for it on fourth down or have punter Jamie Gillian kick. Gano would kick in the second half, but it was evident he was not 100 percent.
This isn't the first time that Gano picked up a pregame injury. That happened last year, as he entered a game against the Washington Commanders, attempted an opening kickoff, then was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
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Let's face it, Gano is a 38-year-old kicker and has proven to be injury-prone in the last couple of years. The fact that the Giants don't have another kicker is insane. Luckily for the Giants, they can bring in a potential successor to Gano, thanks to the Atlanta Falcons. That is Younghoe Koo.
Younghoe Koo could solve Giants' kicking problem after Week 3 nightmare
Yes, Koo got off to a rough start this year on the Falcons, missing a game-tying field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Because of that, the Falcons cut Koo and pivoted to Parker Romo as the starting kicker. The writing may have been written on the wall after the 2024 season, where he made just 25-of-34 field goal attempts.
But Koo has a solid track record before last season. In his first five years with the Falcons, Koo made 151-of-168 field goal attempts and 138-of-145 extra point attempts.
For some players, a change of scenery could do wonders for them. It's obvious that the Falcons have no intention of bringing him back. But the Giants should at least consider rostering him. Gano is just too unreliable at this stage of his career, and Sunday night proved just that. Plus, Koo is a local player, as he played high school football at Ridgewood, which is just 15 miles away from MetLife Stadium.
The Giants seriously need to consider bringing in a younger, more reliable kicker. Koo, a former Pro Bowler, is still available.