The New York Giants are going to have a new kicker for Round 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
We just don’t know who it is yet.
Giants coach Brian Daboll announced they opened the return window for kicker Graham Gano in hopes that the veteran will return for Sunday’s road game against the Eagles.
Gano has missed the past four games while nursing a groin injury that put him on injured reserve. The kicker, who injured his groin during warmups before their Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, was severely limited during that game.
The Giants have 21 days to either add Gano to their active roster, or else they will have to place him on season-ending IR if he does not come back in that window.
New York (2-5) waived Gano’s replacement Jude McAtamney after he missed two extra points in New York’s 33-32 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. McAtamney went 2 for 2 on field goals but missed three extra points in the past two games.
Younghoe Koo Is Waiting In The Wings If Graham Gano Can’t Kick
McAtamney has been the Giants kicker even though veteran Younghoe Koo has been on the Giants’ practice squad since mid-September.
Koo, previously of the Atlanta Falcons, was signed after Gano made his only field-goal attempt against the Chiefs and did not attempt an extra point — the Giants passed on two potential field goals on fourth downs in their 22-9 loss.
Koo is the 17th-most accurate kicker in NFL history (85.8 percent) yet was released by the Falcons after he missed a potential game-tying 44-yard kick in their season opening, 23-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Even though Koo has been hampered by a hip injury that caused him some accuracy, and three games last season, he has not missed an extra point since Week 2 of the 2023 NFL season. Koo made just 25 of 34 field goals in 2024 — his 73.5 percent success rate was the worst in a full season since 2019.
Yet, when asked whether the Giants are planning for Koo or Gano to kick, Daboll said it was too early to decide.
“We’ll see where we are Friday afternoon,” Daboll said.
The Giants Should Wait Until Graham Gano Is 100 Percent For Him To Suit Up
The Giants, like most teams, are loathe to suit up multiple kickers for a game, but pre- or early-game injuries have cost the Giants dearly in games the past two seasons.
Gano was injured on the opening kickoff of the Giants’ 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 2 in 2024, before his injury cost the Giants at least seven points against Kansas City.
Jamie Gillan has proven incapable at making extra points over his two seasons of trying. He is 0 for 2 in extra-point attempts for the Giants and is just 1 for 4 on placekicks in his career.
Plus the Giants were 0 for 2 on two-point conversions against Washington last year.
So if there is any chance for Gano’s injury to regress, health-wise, the Giants couldn’t afford to get stuck without a kicker again — especially on the road against the Eagles, where the Giants haven’t won since 2013.
Philadelphia has won 15 of the past 20 head-to-head games against the Giants, with eight of those losses coming by six points or less. If the Giants are going to pull off their first season sweep of the Eagles since 2007, they’ll need a healthy kicker.
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