NY Giants Sign Another Kicker to Their Practice Squad

Sauls, who had been on the Steelers’ practice squad,  worked out for the Giants last week following the revelation of Graham Gano’s herniated disc in his neck. 

The Giants initially chose not to sign Sauls, the former University of Pittsburgh kicker who, during his time with Pitt, made 122 of 124 extra points (98.2%) and 52 of 64 field-goal attempts (81.2%). 

Instead, they went with veteran Younghoe Koo, who is also on the team’s practice squad, while Gano was made inactive.

The Giants had been having punter Jamie Gillan, who is also left-footed, handle their kickoffs for this season.

But Gillan has struggled in that regard of late, sending one kickoff out of bounds and another outside the legal landing zone, resulting in penalties that gave Chicago advantageous field position. Koo was then called upon to handle kickoffs for the second half of that game.

The Giants also have Jude McAtamney on their practice squad. McAtamney filled in for Gano earlier in the year when the veteran kicker was on IR with a groin issue suffered during warmups before the team’s Week 3 game against the Chiefs.  McAtamney missed three PATs in two weeks, leading to his dismissal from the 53-man roster.  

The Giants have mostly used practice-squad elevations to fill the kicker role this season in Gano’s absence, raising the question of whether they will continue that practice moving forward. 

Koo has two more standard elevations left, whereas Saul has three, assuming he lasts on the practice squad.

The Giants have seven games remaining, and injuries have been piling up at other roster spots, prompting them to prioritize other positions — oddly leaving them with just two healthy running backs for the past several weeks.

The Giants have had their share of adventures with the kicking game this season, thanks to the revolving door of different legs who have been called up to score.

They have converted 92.9% of their field goal attempts (third in the league), but have only attempted 14 field goals, which ranks 29th.

The Giants have also attempted 20 PATs (20th in the league), but have only converted 83.3% (tied for last with Carolina).