Giants continue to mishandle an obvious move that perfectly sums up the team’s current problems
The New York Giants need to stop messing around with their kicking situation if Graham Gano is hurt.
New York Giants kicker Graham Gano has not been healthy for a full season for three straight years, and it couldn’t be more evident that the team needs to take this situation more seriously.
Gano recently returned as the Giants’ kicker, only to be held out of practice this week due to a sore neck. Of course, the Giants have found a way to completely mishandle this situation like they’ve done in the past.
Is Graham Gano ready to go or not?
Gano’s inconsistent availability has been an unrecognized serious issue by the front office and coaching staff. Since 2023, Gano has missed 20 games with various injuries. This season, he missed four games and went 1-for-2 in the last game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Now that he has a neck issue, it’s clear the Giants need to move on from the 38-year-old rather than allow it to hold the team back further. When special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial was asked about the issue today, he was noncommittal on how they would handle it.
“We’re gonna explore every option,” Ghobrial told reporters, “We’ll take it to the very end of the week. Fortunately, we have guys on the roster for any situation that arises. All guys we’d be confident going into Sunday with.”
The Giants are in an advantageous position by having a former Pro Bowl kicker, Younghoe Koo, on the practice squad. It’s not often that you can have a kicker with an 85.8% average that is readily available.
Per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, head coach Brian Daboll said Koo would be the one they turn to if Gano is unable to go. However, the whole situation seems a bit convoluted and unclear.
Additionally, Ghobrial provided some insight into how they’re approaching the situation.
“Jude [McAtamney] kicking for a few games was important, getting used to the operation. I think Koo’s done a nice job. At the end of the day, we will still exhaust every ounce of the week to make certain that we’re making the right decision,” Ghobrial told the media, “I think both guys would be ready. I know Koo has kicked really well, so I’d have ultimate confidence with him going out there.”
First, the Giants absolutely should not use McAtamney again if that’s on the table, given how brutal that experiment went the first time, when he missed crucial kicks. Second, the coaching staff needs to make a decision and stop trying to use Gano. It’s clear his health is deteriorating, and the slight competitive advantage of delaying this decision isn’t worth prolonging the problem. Turn to Koo and don’t look back.
Hopefully, the Giants will finally make a coherent decision on their kicker and stop mishandling it like they have multiple times.
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