The Giants waive a struggling player, underscoring a major problem New York still can’t seem to solve in 2025 heading into Week 16
The New York Giants are waiving veteran kicker Younhoe Koo after a brutal stretch
The New York Giants are making another special teams roster move. Today, they announced they’re waiving veteran kicker Younghoe Koo after a brutal stretch as the team’s kicker. The revolving door continues at a position that’s not supposed to make any headlines.
New York Giants waive Younghoe Koo
The Giants’ kicking situation has been a massive headache for the franchise all season, adding to a long list of problems that have led to the worst record in the NFL. Now the Giants will be moving on to their fourth kicker of the season.
Veteran and longtime Giants kicker Graham Gano appeared in five games this season before he had to be shut down due to a season-ending neck injury. Despite enduring health issues, Gano was still reliable, going nine for ten on field goal attempts and a perfect nine for nine on extra points.
His recurring health problems ultimately led the Giants to make a perplexing move, letting international kicker Jude McAtamney take over. That turned out to be disastrous, as he missed several critical kicks and went 9-for-12 on extra points. He also wasn’t trusted to kick anything longer than a 31-yard field goal.
Eventually, the Giants turned to Koo, who appeared to be a steal when the Atlanta Falcons parted ways with him earlier in the year. Ultimately, there was a reason for that departure as Koo struggled once he claimed the Giants’ kicking role. He was four for six with a long of 44 and 13 for 14 on extra points. He would go on to miss both of his attempts over 50 yards this year. Koo also produced one of the most ridiculous gaffes I’ve ever witnessed from a kicker when they lost to the New England Patriots.
Who will be the Giants’ kicker?
With no corresponding moves announced yet, it appears they could be turning to Ben Sauls, whom they signed to the practice squad last month. Sauls is a 24-year-old kicker from Pitt who has yet to attempt a field goal in an NFL game. He did have some success in the preseason with the Pittsburgh Steelers, going 5-for-6 and being perfect on extra points.
In college at Pitt, Sauls finished his career with 52 made field goals on 64 attempts with a long of 58. In his final season as Pitt’s starting kicker, he connected on 87.5% of his field goal attempts.
It’ll remain to be seen if Sauls can be a long-term solution or just a short-term bandage with three games remaining.
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