Giants Special Teams Weren’t That Special in 2025

People often don’t give enough credit to a football team's special teams unit, but they probably should.

A good special teams unit can be a game-changer by flipping the field to give the offense a shorter field on which to operate or by backing up the opponent deep into the end zone, allowing the defense to potentially deliver a scoring play.

After what initially started as a promising season, save for the revolving door at kicker, which was probably the grossest mishandled decision regarding Big Blue’s special teams, the New York Giants’ special teams units fell off.

According to league stats, the Giants finished 11th in field goal conversion percentage (88.5%), but were tied for last in field goals between 40-49 yards and tied for last in field goals of 50+ yards.

Because they went through a revolving door of kickers, they likely had to attempt a few more fourth-down plays that they probably would have eschewed in favor of a field goal had they had a competent kicker all year long.

Their average punt return yardage, 8.6, put them at 22nd in the league, while their average starting field position off a punt return (not counting touchbacks) was right smack in the middle (18th).

The Giants also ranked 30th in net yards per punt (36.9), 31st in punts placed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line (17), and toward the bottom of the league in punts placed inside the opponent’s 10-yard line and in opponents' starting field position off a punt return.

The positives? The Giants ranked in the top four league-wide in starting field position after a kickoff, and they ranked sixth in the league in the number of kickoffs they managed to bring beyond their own 20-yard line, all of this likely due to discovering a use for cornerback Deonte Banks as a kickoff returner.

Overall, this unit is in dire need of an overhaul. While some of the dropoff was due to injuries on offense and defense that siphoned away core special teamers, the lack of consistency across the board was a big-time problem for the Giants when it came to winning starting field position.

And now onto our recap of the key members of the special teams units.

Graham Gano

Three straight years now, Gano's injuries have hamstrung the Giants, who have allowed several regular-season contests to be impacted by not having a fallback plan in place if/when the oldest player on the team fell victim once again to the ravages of time.

Gano has been a great professional in his 16-year career – the final six with the Giants – but it’s obvious to the entire football world that his body can no longer be trusted. He’s simply another injury waiting to happen.

He kicked in only five games. On the opening kickoff in Week 3, he suffered a groin injury. He missed the next five games.

When he returned in Week 8, he was kept off kickoffs, obviously not fully healthy. One week later, he was ushered off to IR with a neck injury that finished his season.

There’s one year left on Gano’s contract. The Giants must eat that money and move on, especially with an impressive youngster already on board.

Ben Sauls

Signed to the practice squad in mid-November, this rookie undrafted free agent was elevated for the three final games of the Giants' season and impressed by nailing every one of his kicks, two of his appearances coming in the wintry conditions of the Meadowlands, which Sauls handled like a veteran.

He went 8-8 on field goals and 7-7 on extra points. His longest kick was an extra point that was pushed 15 yards back by a penalty; he nailed it from 47 yards out.

Admittedly, there were no pressure kicks, other than every single one of them as he was auditioning for an NFL job. He certainly passed the audition.

A left-footed kicker, this 24-year-old excelled in the wintry northeast climes of Pittsburgh University for five seasons. He’s not the biggest kicker, but he has a big leg.

In college, he nailed a 58-yarder plus a handful of other 50+-yarders. The team can do worse than hand off the placekicking responsibilities to this mature rookie and move on from the Graham Gano era that ended so poorly.

Younghoe Koo

This 31-year-old, 8-year veteran was signed in September as Gano injury insurance, elevated to the roster in November, and waived in December after kicking in 5 Giants games.

He went 4-6 on field goals and 11-12 on extra points. Infamously, on a 47-yard field goal attempt in December, Koo kicked the turf instead of the ball, leading to a 13-yard sack.

In the following game, he missed kicks from 51 and 52 yards in a tight game, and was waived after the game, giving way to Sauls.

Jude McAtamney

He was activated to replace Gano’s first injury, and, ironically enough, he kicked in the team’s two early-season wins. It was obvious that the coaches didn’t trust him to make any challenging kicks.

In his four games, McAtamney went 2-for-2 on field goals, with a long of 31. He also went just 9-12 on extra points. He missed two extra points in the 1-point loss to the Broncos in October and was waived.

Jamie Gillan

Struggling through yet another inconsistent punting season, a knee injury may have impacted part of this year’s troubles. Still, it doesn’t explain his history of mediocre punting with this team that inexplicably signed him to a long-term contract a few years back that still has two years left on it.

Gillan is one of the worst pooch punters in the league, and in fact, he rarely appears to have any clue as to where his punts are going.

His numbers aren’t bad, but the eye test says it all. This organization has to stop handing out long-term contracts to unproven and/or aging kickers.

Cameron Johnston

Signed to replace Gillan when he missed time with a knee injury, Johnston lasted one game, punted four times, gave up a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown, and yielded a total of 91 return yards.

The Giants quickly waived Johnston for a hobbled Gillan, who did not do much better.

Casey Kreiter

The king of the one-year contracts, at least the front office has someone to save them from their insane long-term special teams contracts.

Kreiter is as professional a deep snapper as you will find in this league, and just keeps rolling along at the age of 35.

Yes, he’s a pending free agent who will surely be signed to another year of cool, calm, and collected snapping.

Gunner Olszewski

Another reliable 3-year member of the Giants' special teams, the 29-year-old Olszewski was uber-reliable as a punt returner, thanks to his decision-making and ball security.

He returned 24 punts without a glitch, always bleeding every yard out of each return. On kickoff returns, he consistently got the ball to the 30-yard line until a missed block got him plastered in Week 13, knocking the ball out of his hands and causing a concussion that forced him to miss two games.

Olszewski returned to finish the season strong and also impressed late as a receiver. Another pending free agent, he’s one of those low-profile re-signings that just have to happen.

Jevon Holland

When Olszewski went down, Holland stepped in to field punts for two games.

Though he was reliable in tracking and fielding all of his chances, Holland showed that he is not a natural returner.

The coaches played both their starting safeties on kickoff coverage, where Holland recorded 4 tackles and suffered his season-ending knee injury in Week 18.

Tyler Nubin

Nubin was the other starting safety mentioned as covering kickoffs, also contributing with 4 tackles.

Dane Belton

The third safety who played on every single special teams snap in 2025, Belton was easily the team’s best special teams performer.

He not only handled all the play-calling from the fullback position on punts, but he covered like a madman, leading the team with 20 tackles. The next closest was Zaire Barnes with 13.

Belton’s combination of speed, instinct, smarts, and physicality saw him around the ball even when he wasn’t finishing plays.

He is a pending free agent, and it’s imperative that the organization not allow complementary-type players like Belton, Olszewski, Green, Van Roten, Bellinger, Barnes, etc., to sign elsewhere.

Zaire Barnes

This 26-year-old has the look of a special teams ace. Though he didn’t get on the field with the Giants till early October, he was second on the team with 13 special teams tackles in just 11 games.

Barnes was always physical and alert in his coverage and blocking.

Neville Hewitt

This 32-year-old vet really started fast when he signed in September, but he faded a bit in the second half of the season when a hamstring injury slowed him.

He still finished with 12 total tackles in 15 games and showed a good nose for the football.

Art Green

The team’s best gunner–and it wasn’t even close–Green’s season was limited by a hamstring injury that cost him six games.

When he was on the field, Green completely dominated single- and double-team blocking with his ideal size-speed combination and a defensive mentality tailor-made for special teams.

He may lack the quick-twitch to play corner, but he loves to play the game at a high speed and physically. He still finished with 11 tackles in just 11 games and played a bit of an enforcer role that, at times, went over the line.

Nic Jones

Starting the season as a gunner, Jones came up small on too many occasions to grade out as no more than an average special teamer.

Though he has a good nose and instinct for finding the ball, he lacks the speed and athleticism to finish plays he should.

A shoulder injury in early December finished his season. In 13 games, he tallied 6 tackles and is a non-priority pending free agent.

Rico Payton

After Jones’ injury, Payton, who the Giants claimed off waivers after the roster cut down date, stepped in at gunner and showed solid size and physicality, but average speed and agility to impact.

In 9 games, he tallied 5 tackles. Payton has another year left on his contract, so expect him back for another run at it in 2026.

Dalen Cambre

This small-college UDFA, known for his special teams skills, didn’t get promoted from the practice squad until mid-November.

In seven games, he totaled 5 tackles, only occasionally impressing on kickoff coverage.

We expected Cambre to step in at gunner and excel, but he only got a handful of snaps there and did not impress. He’s got another year on his contract to impress.

Deonte Banks

Saving the best for last, we were the last person to anticipate that Banks would step in on kickoff returns and immediately impress. His returns were consistently aggressive, enthusiastic, and productive.

It was like a switch was turned on whenever Banks returned kicks; after the kick, he would return to the desultory, disinterested defensive back who had frustrated so many Giants fans.

Known for an avid avoidance of contact on defense, Banks did not shy away from contact in the least on his returns. He broke tackles, he ran to daylight, and he always seemed to threaten the second wave.

He, in fact, did hit the biggest special teams play of the Giants' year with a 95-yard kickoff return gallop in Week 18, the Giants’ special teams’ lone big play, in fact.

Banks has certainly found himself a niche on returns and has the legit look of a big playmaker back there. Too bad the team can’t find a way to incorporate him into the offensive game plan, as he's sure got the talent to be a game-breaker.

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