Big Blue View
Watching 38-year-old placekicker Graham Gano easily made field goals of 53, 51 and 50 yards in a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills was comforting for New York Giants special teams coach Michael Ghobrial.
“I think there’s definitely a breath of fresh air when you see a guy perform at what you know he can do and that was something that we saw, honestly, in training camp and in the offseason. It was like, ‘Okay, Graham is kicking well. He looks like he’s got his leg…’ and all that,” Ghobrial said on Monday. “But ultimately, we’re a production-based business so when you do it in the game, you’re like, ‘Okay, yeah, that’s Graham Gano.’”
Gano has had back-to-back injury-plagued seasons, but the Giants are still counting on him to be their kicker. The game against Buffalo offered hope that the Giants’ confidence won’t be misplaced.
Here are some other takeaways from Ghobrial’s media availability.
Some eyebrows were raised when kick returner/wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette did not play Saturday against the New York Jets. Head coach Brian Daboll has said there is almost always a medical reason for a player not taking part in a preseason game. Smith-Marsette, though, appeared to be a healthy scratch.
Ghobrial imdicated that it was simply a matter of the Giants not needing to see anything from Smith-Marsette, who averaged 7.9 yards per punt return and 34.6 yards per kickoff return for the Giants last season.
“We’re confident in Ihmir’s ability,” Ghobrial said. “He’s had a lot of take out there, and really we just wanted to give other guys opportunity. We’ve been blessed with this roster of having a good amount of returners on this roster. A lot of guys in this league that have done it from the dual-returner ability so we’re just going to continue to roll them through and see what some of these guys can do.”
Dante Miller needs to be an asset on special teams to stick with the team as a backup running back. Miller’s 4.27 speed makes him a kickoff return option. That speed and a willingness to be physical are making him an option on coverage teams, as well.
Miller downed a punt at the 5-yard line against the Jets while working as a punt gunner.
“Turbo lives up to his nickname, real speed,” Ghobrial said. “The one thing that you see in practice as well is he has really good practice demeanor so you see the very intentional and deliberate practice habits show up in the game. You see his ability to run by a vice and he’s a very willing and physical tackler when those opportunities present itself so excited to see Turbo whenever he gets those opportunities.”
To encourage more kickoff returns, the NFL moved touchbacks from the 30 to the 35-yard line this season. Ghobrial indicated that makes kicking teams want to be sure they force a return.
“The biggest rule difference...
