Giants’ Kicker Ben Sauls Poses a Unique Set of Challenges

Rookie place-kicker Ben Sauls will have the distinction of being the fifth kicker to take the field for the New York Giants this season.

He is a kicker who poses a pair of challenges, starting with a lack of experience kicking in high-pressure situations in the NFL.

“He's done a nice job,” interim head coach Mike Kafka said Friday of Sauls’s week of practice.

“Obviously kicked inside but then went outside onto the game field and did some work as well, so it was good to kind of get him out there and get him used to the environment a little bit.”

Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial agreed.

“For a rookie and a guy that hasn't necessarily had a regular season game yet, he's wise beyond his years, so he approaches the game like a true pro,” he said.

“From his days back at Pitt, Coach (Pat) Narduzzi has done a great job with him. Then part of that is also being, you guys know, in Pitt, sharing the same stadium (as the Steelers). Being able to kick in an NFL stadium, I think, has also allowed him to grow up quicker.”

Although Sauls has yet to kick in the NFL, he has a respectable college record, having converted 98.4% of his XPT attempts and 81.3% of his field goals.

Kicker Ben Sauls participates in drills during Steelers training camp at Saint Vincent College. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

But the other challenge with Sauls, besides his lack of NFL experience, is that he’s a left-footed kicker. That means that the holding operation, which will continue to be managed by Gillan, will have to change.

“The holder's on the other side, for one,” Ghobrial said of the biggest change in having a left-footed place-kicker.

But Ghobrial added that he’s not overly concerned about that being a problem for Gillan.

“One of the biggest things is, from a holding standpoint, we made certain that he got enough operation time just in terms of his transformation and him growing as a younger player, not knowing when his opportunity was going to be,” Ghobrial said.

“So, just getting comfortable with the operation of the other side. Obviously, to him, it looks normal. Just the fact of the matter is, there are not as many lefty kickers in this league. So, getting the whole specialist crew comfortable with those situations has been the challenge.”

Kafka admitted that Sauls’s lack of NFL experience has been taken into consideration regarding strategic game-day decisions. Still, the key will be pinpointing Sauls’s range on gameday in the elements.

“On game day, depending on the elements, they'll give us a range, a line, what that's going to be, whether that's just, ‘Hey, normal situations,’ or, ‘Hey, got-to-have-it line for end-of-game type situations,’” Kafka said.

“So, they'll give us a little bit of a range, and obviously, throughout the course of the game, it could be flexible. But it’s something that we talk about throughout the morning, throughout the game, and if anything changes based on weather or another reason that pops up.”

Ghobrial is excited to see Sauls do his thing.

“He's worked his tail off,” he said. “He's had operations with the specialists, so this won't be new to him. He's excited for the opportunity, and we have ultimate confidence in him.”

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