New York Giants 2022 Training Camp Preview: K Graham Gano

Sometimes it’s a good thing when your team’s kicker is in the spotlight.

There is nothing special teams coordinators love more than pinning the opponent deep in their own territory or forcing a return team mistake off a crafty, bouncing kick. And it is certainly one of the most nerve-wracking yet simultaneously exhilarating moments in football when you watch the big leg send the pigskin sailing 40-50 yards through the air and the uprights for the game-winning field goal.

In the 2021 season, however, the New York Giants saw their kicker, Graham Gano, mentioned a little too often for anyone in East Rutherford’s liking, as in some games, he was their only source of points on the scoreboard.

A 13-year NFL veteran, Gano grew up just outside of Pensacola, Florida in a small town called Cantonment, part of a family whose ancestry is chocked full of military veterans, including his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father. He attended J.M. Tate High School, where he was a talented and successful two-sport athlete, playing football and running track and field.

On the gridiron, Gano was an All-American First-Team selection by USA Today and was ranked as the nation’s third-best kicker. The top rankings translated to the track, where Gano was one of the state’s best sprinters and captured three separate state titles in 2005 in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter dashes.

Gano would become the kicker and punter for the Florida State University Seminoles from 2005 to 2008, where by his senior year, he was nominated an All-American by several different media outlets.

In that same season, the accolades kept pouring in on both the FBS and ACC levels. Gano finished the 2008 season first in the FBS for field goals converted, percentage of field goals converted (one of two kickers to convert over 90%), and 50-yard field goals made.

He also championed the ACC in field goals per game (2.2), field goal percentage (92.3%, which is still a record), points scored (105), and points per game (9.5) and was eventually granted the Lou Groza Award for the nation’s best kicker.

Gano would declare for the 2009 NFL Draft but went undrafted and eventually signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens later that year. He was waived by the Ravens and would play for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL, the Washington Redskins, and Carolina Panthers (member of the Super Bowl 50 runner-up) before joining the Giants in August 2020.

As a Giant, Gano’s leg has relied heavily on to get points on the board amid a multi-season slump of inefficient offense. In 2020, Gano played in all 16 games and had a nearly perfect season, converting 31 of 32 field-goal attempts (96.9%), with his lone miss coming from the 50+ yard range. He was 3-3 on 50-yard field goals in the Giants’ Week 5 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

In the 2021 season, Gano’s efficiency dropped a tad, but the Giants boasted one of the worst offenses in the NFL in several scoring categories, and the 35-yard-old became their best scorer. Playing in all 17 games, Gano converted 29 of 33 (87.9%) of his field-goal attempts and scored 104 points, a number that was followed by a dismal 24 points scored by running back Saquon Barkley.

This offseason, Gano has remained in the spotlight for his off-field business dealings with new Giants rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. The team’s first-round draft pick entered into negotiations with the Pro Bowl kicker for his No.5 jersey, the same number Thibodeaux wore for the Oregon Ducks in college.

After what Thibodeaux called “a whole lot of negotiating,” the two parties agreed to a jersey exchange if Thibodeaux donated $50,000 to a charity of Gano’s choice. The No. 5 overall pick obliged and will now wear that number while Gano will take over No. 9, last worn by former Giants punter Riley Dixon.

What He Brings

If it isn't obvious, Gano offers the Giants' special teams unit a consistent, deep-range leg that can elevate the team’s offensive production and come through in the big moments when needed.

Last season, Gano carried over a streak of 30 consecutive field goals from the 2020 campaign and raised that to 37 before he missed a 35-yarder in Week 4 against the Saints to end tied with Jason Myer for fourth place in the NFL record.

Over the past two seasons, Gano has achieved a combined 25/26, 14/14, and 12/16 from distances of 30+, 40+, and 50+ yards, respectively. In the right conditions—as the Giants learned in 2018 when Gano was with the Panthers—the 6-foot-2 kicker can nail the game-winning shot at a distance touching 60 yards.

Gano has converted at least 79 percent of his field-goal attempts going back in 2016. He's been a reliable member of the special teams for any organization he’s played for, only missing more than four games in three of his professional seasons, the most recent being 2019, when he missed the entire season after getting injured in the Panthers’ preseason.

His Contract

In November 2020, the Giants signed Graham Gano to a three-year, $14 million contract extension that runs through the 2023 season. His contract terms include a base salary of $1.12 million with a prorated bonus of $1.79 million; however, none of that contract is guaranteed.

Gano’s 2022 cap number sits at $2.91 million. If he doesn’t make the roster this season (highly unlikely), the Giants would save $1.55 million towards the cap but would take a dead money charge of $4.47 million.

Roster Predictions/Expectations

Over the past two seasons, the Giants have learned how big of an asset Gano is to their special teams unit and offensive production. Even at age 35, he had his second-best kicking season as a member of the Giants in 2021 and is still considered one of the best boots in the league.

The Giants' focus on special teams this offseason has to be strengthening the entire unit and surrounding their veteran kicker with a group of young playmakers who can take advantage of Gano’s crafty kick placement and chase down footballs on the other end of the field.

It’s not unreasonable to see the Giants add a second kicker to their training camp roster in the spirit of competition (or to share some of the workload), nor is it unfathomable to see another player hold a spot on the practice squad just in case.

Yet, barring any injuries to Gano in 2022, it’s more than fair to assume he already has the job locked up for the upcoming season.

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