Big Blue View
One of the biggest questions for the New York Giants entering the 2025 season is whether or not they can truly rely on 38-year-old placekicker Graham Gano.
Entering his 16th season, Gano has long been one of the league’s most reliable kickers with the range to excel from beyond 50 — and sometimes, 60 — yards. Gano has a Giants’ franchise record of 25 field goals of 50 or more yards, easily eclipsing Joe Danelo’s previous mark of nine.
After two injury-plagued seasons, though, can the Giants count on Gano a) to be the sure-thing kicker who has made 87.2% of field goals in five seasons with New York, and b) to stay healthy for 17 games after kicking in just 18 games over the past two years?
A knee injury landed Gano on IR in 2023 and a groin injury cost him time in 2024. Gano did, though, make six of his final seven field-goal attempts in 2024.
“I thought he played his best ball towards the back quarter of the season.,” special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said this week. “And it looked like he was the Graham Gano that everybody knows. A very successful veteran kicker that has the clutch trait, that’s weather tested, that has good range, good accuracy, and good operation time. And we saw that towards the back quarter of the season.”
Ghobrial said that Gano has kicked well during the spring and summer.
“He looked like the Graham Gano that we all know,” Ghobrial said. “He kicked well in the offseason, and he’s kicked well in training camp.”
Gano has 45 field goals in his career from beyond 50 yards, one of those a game-winner from 63 yards to beat the Giants while he was kicking for the Carolina Panthers in 2019.
With the leg injuries and advancing age, it is fair to wonder if Gano, who has made at least one field goal from 53 yards or beyond in each of his five seasons with the Giants, still has that ability.
“To me, the most successful kickers are 100% inside 45 yards,” Ghobrial said. “And then when you look at something that’s +46, you want a guy to be above 80% in theory. So he does have that 50+ range still, he does have the ability to hit the big ball.”
Former Rutgers kicker Jude McAtamney is in camp with the Giants for a second straight year on an international exemption. It does not seem, though, that there is a real competition for the job.
The Giants are counting on Gano to be the consistent, clutch kicker he has always been when healthy. We will have to see if he can still be that guy.
