The New York Giants saw an improvement to their special teams unit under Thomas McGaughey in 2019, which is why it should come as little surprise that first-year head coach Joe Judge, a long-time special teams coach, opted to have him return.
Judge places a heavy emphasis on the importance of special teams, so don’t think for a second the Giants will slack in that area.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that there will be several major changes and a little uncertainty as the team enters training camp.
Kicker
Chandler Catanzaro is the kicker right now, but how long that lasts is anyone’s guess. The bottom line is that the Giants had to add someone to kick the ball following the release of Aldrick Rosas, and with no tryouts to be had, Catanzaro was the best immediate option.
Catanzaro initially signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent out of Clemson following the 2014 NFL Draft. He stayed with the team through the 2016 season.
In 2017, Catanzaro spent a season with the Jets before spending time with both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers in 2018.
Catanzaro returned to Gang Green briefly in 2019, but unexpectedly announced his retirement five months after signing. He remained on the team’s reserve/left squad until being released last week.
In 77 career games, Catanzaro has connected on 83.8% of his field-goal attempts and 92.9% of his point-after attempts.
Don’t expect Catanzaro to be the only kicker to stroll through East Rutherford this summer.