Tag: chad ryland

Cardinals sign highest-drafted kicker in Bill Belichick era to practice squad

Chad Ryland is joining the Cardinals’ practice squad

Former New England Patriots kicker Chad Ryland was signed to the Arizona Cardinals practice squad on Wednesday. The Cardinals announced the move through social media.

Ryland began his career with the Patriots after being drafted by the organization in 2023. He had a difficult rookie season, making 16-of-25 field goals. He managed to make 24-of-25 extra points.

The Patriots selected Ryland in the fourth round with the 112th overall pick. He was the highest-drafted kicker in the Bill Belichick era in New England. However, he didn’t last long and was officially released by the Patriots on August 27, after losing the starting kicking job to Joey Slye.

Ryland had a productive college career, as he was named to the All-Big Ten Second-Team in 2022 and was a two-time member of the All-MAC Second-Team in 2020 and 2021. He started his collegiate career as a walk-on at Eastern Michigan before transferring to Maryland.

The Patriots have found stability at the kicking position with Slye, who kicked a 63-yard field goal in Week 4 against the San Francisco 49ers.

This represents a fresh start for Ryland.

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Report: Patriots releasing fourth-round draft pick K Chad Ryland

Chad Ryland is one-and-done in New England

The New England Patriots reportedly released kicker Chad Ryland on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Ryland was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft. He struggled in his rookie season, making 16-of-25 field goals. He did better on extra points, making 24-of-25.

Nevertheless, his struggles were certainly of note. Who could ever forget when he missed a 35-yard potential game-tying field goal against the New York Giants badly?

Ryland had a strong collegiate career, as he was selected as a two-time Second-Team All-MAC kicker in 2020 and 2021. He was also a Second-Team All-Big Ten in 2022.

Ryland was in a position battle with veteran Joey Syle throughout training camp this year.

Releasing Ryland has been one of the more notable moves for the Patriots ahead of the 53-man roster cut deadline on Tuesday. The Patriots’ special teams unit struggled at times last year, and this could be a fresh start for all parties involved.

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Patriots kicker Chad Ryland ready to face challenges head-on

Patriots specialist Chad Ryland is ready to compete for the starting kicking job in 2024

New England Patriots kicker Chad Ryland is eager to bounce back after a difficult 2023 season.

The Maryland product connected on only 64 percent of his field goal attempts in what was a difficult campaign. Now, he is looking forward to taking on the challenge of bouncing back. The Patriots brought in competition at kicker with the signing of veteran Joey Slye.

Ryland will have a chance to turn the page by being more consistent this year. Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer has been working with him behind the scenes on technique changes.

Even with Slye on the roster, the second-year kicker remains confident and fully accepts the challenge ahead.

“I’m certainly looking forward to it,” said Ryland, via NESN.com’s Keagan Stiefel. “I’m no coward to a challenge and certainly want to continue to grow in my craft, and will hopefully grow each year and take each offseason moving forward through how many years I’m blessed to play as serious as I did this offseason.”

There’s no doubt Ryland had bumps in the road last year.

It remains to be seen how he will fare this season. Nevertheless, it is clear that he is coming in with a focused mindset and ready to go.

This stat shows how disastrous Patriots’ kicking game was last season

The Patriots’ field goal kicking last season was much worse than you think

If the kicking game wasn’t as bad as it was last season, the New England Patriots probably wouldn’t have been in a position to select quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

The team is obviously thankful to land a new franchise quarterback, but when reviewing the abysmal kicking stats from last season, it’s clear that something needs to change moving forward.

Chad Ryland, who was taken in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft, faltered with the unreasonably high expectations set for him as a rookie. The Patriots shouldn’t have taken him as high as they did. His high draft spot, along with being thrown into the fire right away, seemingly contributed to his overall struggles on the field.

Film room guru Brett Kollmann recently pointed out that the Patriots’ lowly 64.0 field goal kicking percentage would have been tied for 181st among college FBS and FCS programs last season.

That’s bad—really, really bad.

The Patriots’ new regime obviously realize the kicking game is an issue. They recently signed veteran kicker Joey Slye to the roster as legitimate competition for Ryland.

Keep in mind, Ryland only has one NFL season under his belt, and he could still turn things around in his second year. With a little more confidence, who knows what could happen?

But the Patriots have ensured their security if the inconsistencies from last season continue to haunt the young kicker.

Patriots reportedly bringing in competition for struggling K Chad Ryland

Chad Ryland will have competition at kicker

The New England Patriots didn’t draft a kicker, but they’re reportedly making sure to sign one for competition with Chad Ryland ahead of the 2024 season.

Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the team agreed on a deal with former Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Joey Slye on Thursday. Slye is a veteran special-teamer with previous stints with the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Football Team, prior to joining the Jaguars.

Ryland, who will be entering his second NFL season, will be looking to bounce back from a rocky rookie campaign, where he went 16-of-25 kicking for a 64 percent field goal percentage.

Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick reached for Ryland in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft, and so far, the former Maryland kicker hasn’t lived up to the hype. Perhaps the regime change and the arrival of Slye will light a fire under him.

Slye has appeared in 78 games with an 82.3 percent career field goal kicking percentage and 88.5 percent at extra points. He was ultimately released by Jacksonville on April 30 after just signing in March. The writing was on the wall after the Jaguars spent a sixth-round pick to draft rookie kicker Cam Little.

Slye will now have an opportunity to prove himself in New England in an open competition with Ryland.

Patriots’ 7 most disappointing players in 2023

Here are the Patriots’ seven most disappointing players in 2023.

There is enough blame to go around for the New England Patriots’ failures in 2023. So it wouldn’t be fair to point the finger at one or two people for the team’s worst season in the Bill Belichick era.

With that said, there were multiple players that failed to live up to expectations in a year when the team desperately needed a turnaround to rid themselves of the stench from the 2022 season.

Unfortunately, things didn’t get better for the Patriots. They got much worse, despite clear efforts to turn things around.

The team sunk to 4-13 on the year and finished dead last in the AFC East division. Belichick’s 24-year run as head coach came to an end, and the team is now on the journey to rebuild with a new regime in place.

Here are the seven most disappointing players for the Patriots in 2023:

Patriots’ emotional post-game locker room video after upsetting Broncos

Matthew Slater’s uplifting comments to Chad Ryland and this epic post-game speech is stuff of legend.

There were plenty of emotions running from every corner of the visiting locker room at Empower Field, after the New England Patriots pulled off a stunning upset win on Christmas Eve over the Denver Broncos.

At Mile High, which has been a house of horrors for past Bill Belichick-coached teams, quarterback Bailey Zappe led the Patriots offense on a seven-play, game-winning drive which was bookended by a 56-yard field goal from shaky rookie kicker Chad Ryland.

It was the unlikeliest of wins from the unlikeliest of heroes.

Zappe was cut by the Patriots initially before the start of the season, and Ryland looked to be on the verge of losing his starting job. Both stepped up when the team really needed it. Defensive tackle Christian Barmore also had a big night with three sacks and four quarterback hits on Russell Wilson.

A look inside of the Patriots’ locker room after the game was posted on the team’s social media pages. Special teams captain Matthew Slater, who missed the game with an injury, gave an epic post-game speech on Christmas, while also uplifting Ryland.

With all of the talk going on outside of New England, the team has continued to fight hard and work together. Even with all of the uncertainty surrounding Belichick’s job status, the players haven’t stopped competing for him.

There clearly is no tanking with this group—never has been and never will be.

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The sound of Chad Ryland’s missed extra point was downright explosive to NFL fans watching on TV

Not quite a doink, but still just as jarring!

New England Patriots kicker Chad Ryland has had a rough go of it lately. And he picked arguably the worst time to do so early on Christmas Eve.

As New England shuffled its way to a 26-23 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday night, Ryland had two important opportunities to pad the Patriots’ lead. He first missed a field goal, stacking the pressure. Then, after New England scored a touchdown, Ryland wasn’t even close on a chip shot extra point.

That’s an understatement because Ryland actually kicked the ball through the left post flag. And whatever mic was attached made the most ominous, almost explosive sound as the ball passed through:

Oh my goodness! I’m not sure I’ve ever heard wind and a football combine to make that kind of noise!

Fortunately for Ryland, he’d recover quite well. With time winding down in regulation, he nailed a 56-yard game-winning kick. It’s just that, you know, no one’s going to forget the sound that mic’d-up flag helped make:

WATCH: Patriots K Chad Ryland hits 56-yard game-winning field goal vs Broncos

Chad Ryland has ice in his veins.

New England Patriots rookie kicker Chad Ryland shocked the world on Sunday night, delivering a game-winning 56-yard field goal kick through the uprights to knock off the Denver Broncos.

This is the same Ryland that looked to be on the verge of losing his starting job before making the biggest kick of his NFL career.

Prior to the game-winning kick, the rookie had whiffed on a 47-yarder and an extra point earlier in the night. But he came roaring back with a vengeance and made the big kick when the Patriots needed it the most. It put the team ahead 26-23 and essentially iced the game against the Broncos.

Ryland still needs to work on his consistency, but his ability to come through in the clutch like he did on Sunday says a lot about his potential as a kicker. Perhaps he can ride the momentum from this game-winner and change the disappointing narrative surrounding his rookie season.

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Twitter reacts to Patriots’ Christmas Eve upset win over Broncos

Here’s what fans were saying on Twitter after the Patriots’ upset win over the Broncos.

The New England Patriots outlasted the Denver Broncos by a 26-23 score in a Christmas Eve showdown on Sunday.

At one point, the Patriots had a 23-7 lead, before the Broncos came roaring back. Nevertheless, New England was able to hold on in the end, courtesy of some late-game magic.

The victory came on a game-winning drive engineered by quarterback Bailey Zappe and the Patriots offense. Zappe went 25-of-33 on the night, throwing for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Demario Douglas was the team’s leading receiver in this contest, catching five passes for 74 yards.

However, it was the leg of Chad Ryland that won the night, after he gifted his teammates with a game-winning, 56-yard field goal as an early holiday gift.

There were plenty of reactions to this game on Twitter, and here are some of the best ones: