NY Giants Special Teams Breakdown from Preseason Week 1

We wrap up our position review of the New York Giants’ 34-25 win over the Bills with a look at special teams.

Graham Gano

In the last two years, Gano missed serious time due to leg injuries. He’s now 38 years old and in the twilight of his career. Can he ever get through another NFL season? Nobody knows.

However, Gano looked like the Gano of old this week, effortlessly swinging his leg to convert three long field goals (53, 50, and 51). He also pooched every one of his four kickoffs as the coaches challenged his coverage team to lock down the Buffalo return game.

The good news is that Gano did not have to attempt a single tackle today. Pooch kickoffs invite returns, and sometimes the placekicker has to get involved. That’s just asking for trouble for 38-year-old placekickers. We hope that this is taken into consideration as this team moves forward.

Jude McAtamney

The Giants' backup placekicker converted a 42-yard field goal as well as an extra point. Of his four kickoffs, McAtamney successfully pooched two of them, the other two downed as touchbacks.

Jamie Gillan

Of Gillan’s four punts, one was a sub-par pooch punt, and another bounced end over end and was too short to be returnable. Though he only allowed 11 return yards and averaged 42.5 net to the Bills’ 42.0, he was easily out-punted by the Bills' punter, who consistently hit the ball cleanly, while Gillan was his inconsistent self.

Casey Kreiter

It was another clean season from this veteran deep snapper who continues to sign one-year contracts and continues to be a total professional at what he does. Kreiter is as consistent as the day is long, and why shouldn’t he be? He has one job to do, and he repeats that job over and over again.

Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Getting the punt return job that he seems to have already locked up, Smith-Marsette returned two punts stress-free for a total of 23 yards.

There is nothing fancy about Smith-Marsette’s returns, and that’s just fine with us. He also produced a 40-yard kickoff return, the game’s longest return of any kind.

Dante Miller

The speedy running back returned one kickoff for 20 yards with as aggressive a return as you will ever see, somehow holding onto the ball while being flipped over.

Miller also got a handful of punt gunner snaps and acquitted himself well. He was also very active on kickoff coverage, flying around out there at seemingly a different speed than anyone else.

Whatever Miller does, he does it full speed. If he ever adds a little finesse to what he does out there, the team just might have something there.

Additional special teams observations:

Dee Williams: Getting the backup punt return job, Williams had two returns but did not flash with either. He made a poor decision to field a boomer on his 6-yard line, and then had no plan and was tackled at his 10-yard line despite the punt out-kicking its coverage. Williams finished with 15 return yards.
Montrell Washington: Washington got only the one punt return opportunity and produced an 8-yard return. He also returned a kickoff for 25 yards.
Raheem Layne: Layne got one of the punt gunner starts and made a solo tackle right off the bat.
Dalen Cambre: This UDFA got the other punt gunner start, and also was solid (alongside Nic Jones) with his double-team blocking of the Bills’ gunners.
Chris Board: Board made a nice solo kickoff tackle.
Tomon Fox: Fox’s only play on specials was a hold on a punt return.
K’Von Wallace: Wallace made one kickoff tackle, as physical a hit as there was all night.
K.J. Cloyd: Cloyd made a physical kickoff hit that knocked the returner off his feet.
Deonte Banks: It was surprising to see Banks showing up on a special-teams report, but he filled and finished physically on an early kickoff return for a solo credit.
Trace Ford: Though he’s not a great open field match for special teams coverages, Ford still managed to get in on one of the kickoff coverage tackles.
Greg Dulcich: Another poor match for special teams coverage, Dulcich was also able to get in on one of the many kickoff tackles today.
Dyontae Johnson: Though he was flagged for a hold on a punt return, Johnson also drew a key block in the back on a kickoff coverage snap.

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