Why NY Giants Made Right Call Regarding Their Kicker Situation

It may bring anxiety to some, but here's why the Giants made the right choice in having Graham Gano as the only kicker on the roster ahead of Week 8.

Graham Gano is the New York Giants best option at kicker, as long as he is indeed fully healthy as the Giants staff believes. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The New York Giants made the right choice in going with Graham Gano as the only kicker on their active roster headed into Week 8.

Gano has missed the last four games following a groin injury suffered during pre-game warmups in Week 3. When Gano has been on the field, he has been a solid kicker for the Giants; however, injuries have kept him off the field consistently over the last three seasons. 

After playing in every game during the first three seasons of his Giants tenure, he has missed 20 games over the last three years.

Gano's injury history over the last three seasons raises concerns. Still, given the injury situation the Giants are dealing with at other positions, wasting a spot on a second kicker who would likely have been inactive would not have made sense.

Safety Jevon Holland has been ruled out of this week’s game, which set off a chain of events in which Dane Belton, who has been a special teams dynamo for the Giants, will draw the starting assignment, thereby having his special teams work reduced.

That’s where Raheem Layne, elevated from the practice squad, fills in the gap. Layne gives the Giants depth at safety and can fill in for Belton on special teams.

On the other side of the ball, although wide receiver Darius Slayton will be back for Week 8 from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the last two games, he was a limited practice participant this past week, raising concerns about whether he’s truly 100%.

With that being a possibility, elevating Lil’Jordan Humphrey makes sense just in case Slayton aggravates the injury.

What about Gano, who has three times now had something happen injury-wise in a game? Are the Giants playing with fire by running him out there without a backup plan?

Perhaps, as no player is 100% exempt from the injury bug striking at any time, but the good news is Gano took his full practice reps, which special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial this week estimated was anywhere between 20-45 balls during the week, spread out over two days, and didn’t need to have his workload dialed back. 

Gano, when healthy, has mostly been reliable. He has not missed a PAT in the last three seasons, and his consistency in that department will give the Giants something they were missing in last week's loss.

If he is indeed fully healthy, as the Giants believe, he will also give the Giants a long-range kicking game that they haven’t had since he went down with an injury before Week 3. Gano has converted on six-of-seven of seven field goals of 50+ yards during the last three seasons.

The Giants are in a less-than-ideal spot with their current kicking situation, as Gano’s injury history doesn’t inspire much confidence in his ability to handle the kicking duties long term. That’s understandable.

But again, given the injury issues at other spots, carrying two kickers on the active roster was a luxury the Giants’ brass felt it couldn’t afford.  

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