The latest piece of New York Giants injury news on November 3 involves veteran kicker Graham Gano, and it’s not good.
“Coach [Brian] Daboll says Graham Gano will go on IR,” the franchise relayed on X. “We are bringing in Kicker Cade York off the [Tennessee] Titans practice squad and adding Kicker Randy Bullock [to the practice squad].”
The Giants have been criticized for mismanaging injuries all season long — like Andrew Thomas’ never-ending hamstring ailment, or Daniel Jones being inactive in Week 8 despite being cleared for contact. Needless to say, the Gano news was not received well by the media.
“Five days after Graham Gano [was] supposedly was alright, nothing to see here. Now shutdown for surgery and IR,” New York Daily News reporter Pat Leonard stated.
Fox Sports reporter Ralph Vacchiano added: “The Giants have now signed two kickers and one quarterback in a week after they relied on an injured kicker and a quarterback they didn’t trust to throw the ball in a game they had to win. Got it.”
Finally, Newsday’s Tom Rock recapped: “In a game where Daniel Jones was technically cleared but did not play and Graham Gano was on the cusp of knee surgery but played nonetheless, the Giants had minus-9 passing yards and missed two critical field goals to lose in overtime to the [New York] Jets.”
Giants’ Cade York-Randy Bullock ‘Kick-Off’ Could Determine Roster Moves at QB & TE
After the Gano news, New York Post reporter Ryan Dunleavy provided a “peek” into the Giants’ incoming roster discussions for Week 9.
“They have K Cade York on active roster and K Randy Bullock on practice squad,” he outlined, reminding that only two reserves can be elevated off the practice squad in Week 9.
That sets up a “kick-off” at today’s practice according to Dunleavy, and “if Bullock is needed, that impacts QB depth chart.”
“Will Matt Barkley get promoted?” He questioned. “Or is it just Daniel Jones off of injury and Tommy DeVito off of -1 yards passing?”
Continuing: “Also, they NEED to promote at least 1 tight end (Lawrence Cager) to the active roster. So that’s one of the spots. Oh, and they need punt returner Gunner Olszewski promoted to one of the practice squad spots.”
There is currently one open spot on the 53-man roster after the Leonard Williams trade.
Later, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan voiced that he “would have to think York is the HEAVY favorite in this competition.”
“The Giants have to devote a roster spot to York for the next three games,” he explained. “Unless he’s shanking kicks into the parking lot today I can’t imagine they’d deactivate him and use an elevation on another kicker.”
On the flip side, ex-NFL kicker Jay Feely noted that while York is “extremely talented,” he “was working through things [in Tennessee].” Adding: “Not sure he’s ready for NY yet.”
Giants New Kicker Cade York Is Only 22 Years Old, Former Fourth-Round Talent
York was a big-time kicking prospect out of LSU, and it would be fitting if he made a name for himself in New York City for obvious reasons.
Selected by the Cleveland Browns in round four of the 2022 draft, the youngster is only 22 years old. He still has massive potential, but the question is whether or not he can figure things out at the NFL level.
“He gets consistent rotation on kicks from all distances and is usually near the middle of the uprights,” NFL draft expert Lance Zierlein scouted in 2022, detailing his 84.6 percent college success rate and his “instant lift on long field goal tries.”
Zierlein projected him as a fifth-round pick, which is a high prediction for a kicker. He also concluded that York “should become a good NFL kicker early in his career.”
In the end, the LSU product went even higher than his projection.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t lived up to the hype so far, making just 75.0 percent of his field goal attempts in year one with a 94.6 completion percentage on extra points. It should be noted that Cleveland had a very short leash when it came to York.
Perhaps, he’ll make good on his second major NFL opportunity after the pitstop with the Titans. After all, kickers don’t always hit the ground running in the pros, and the Giants have a huge need at the position following the injury news to Gano.
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Giants Blasted on Social Media After Latest Injury News